


Spirits and Shields

by hunter139



Series: hunter 139's multiverse of stories [10]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Avatar: Legend of Korra, Dead Space (Video Games), Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, Multi, Multiple Crossovers, Multiple Universes Colliding, Multiverse, Side Story, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 05:55:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20541200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunter139/pseuds/hunter139
Summary: Months after Kuvira's attack, things have changed for the Avatar. Old enemies emerge as a new face appears in Republic City.





	1. Chapter 1

Inside the Triple Threat Triad hangout, many individuals within were enjoying themselves. Some were at the bar, while others were at their own tables, drinking, laughing about their crimes, and all in all, just having a good time.

Unknown to most was the fact that under the bar was a hidden area, one which was normally used for smuggling, but now they had a different purpose as a hideout for the Red Lotus.

And it was for this reason that the Triple Threats were host to a visitor, who made his presence known with the loud engine of his car before it parked outside the building. He was immediately accosted by a couple of Triple Threat benders.

"Nice car." One bender said, putting his palm on the hood. "Where'd you steal it?"

"Hands off." The driver said as he stepped out of the vehicle.

"Just admiring it buddy." The waterbender said, refusing to move. "Is that not allowed?"

The new arrival said nothing, but suddenly the waterbender screamed and pulled his hand away as the car's surface had suddenly heated up. His partner, a firebender, sent a burst of flame at the man, but he was too close and a quick punch knocked him out.

Another punch knocked out the waterbender as he tried to attack, leaving the streets quiet. Through it all, the Triple Threats did nothing, waiting for this man to approach, some inwardly applauding for dealing with the two annoying members outside. They didn't have to wait long before the driver entered the door.

He didn't look like much; a Hispanic man wearing unusual clothing such as jeans and strange shoes, along with an odd black leather jacket with a strange white symbol on the front and a pair of black gloves on his hands. A length of chain was wrapped around him like a sash, and he paid no mind to the hostile glances sent his way as he walked into the room before reaching the bar.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked.

"Information." The new arrival replied. "I'm looking for a torn book page."

"That's... oddly specific." The bartender chuckled, trying to hide the sweat that just crawled down his spine. "What, are you dealing with an overzealous librarian?"

"Just answer the damn question." The man said, his hand balling into a fist. "Where is it?"

"Buddy, how the flameo would I know where to find this magic page you're looking for?" The man briefly smiled, which sent a shiver crawling up the bartender's spine.

"Interesting you should say that. Because I didn't say it was magic."

The bartender's eyes widened at his slip up, but that was all he had time to do before the new arrival grabbed his lapels and pulled his head into the bar itself. Dazed, the bartender was vaguely aware as he was pulled over the table until he was on the ground, with the Hispanic looming over him.

"Now, you're going to tell me where it is and who has it." The bartender grunted as a foot stamped on his chest. "Or this is going to get real ugly." The bartender simply laughed in between a fit of coughing.

"It's too late for that." He said, gesturing to the crowd behind him, causing his attacker to turn his head.

Every Triple Threat member in the room, along with the two guys from outside (who at this point had woken up) had gathered in the room, prepared to deal with this foolish punk who was meddling in business that wasn't his.

"You really think you can take us all on?" The bartender said, before another kick knocked him out.

The man finally turned fully to look at the hostile bar behind him, allowing the Triple Threats to see the fiery orange glow in his eyes as he pulled the chain off his body, letting the length pool to the floor, where the length of metal suddenly became covered in fire. Then his head began smoking as he said three simple words.

"Let's find out."

To their horror, the Triple Threats witnessed his flesh burn away from the inside out, as fire consumed his skeleton. Within a moment, the man's face was unrecognizable, having been reduced to a cracked skull emitting fire.

* * *

It was hours later when the police finally arrived, having been called when someone reported a lot of screaming. When the police arrived they had found a bloodbath. None of the Triple Threats had survived, and all of them were suffering from severe burns.

With the officers was a detective, one of the few Republic City could spare right now. Chief Beifong had admittedly wanted to send either Mako or Bolin, but those two were busy elsewhere, leaving the detective to work with Captain Saikhan, who had just arrived at the crime scene.

"What the flameo happened here?"

"A possible conflict with the Agni Kais." The detective replied. "Most of these guys died from severe burns."

"And those that didn't?" Saikhan struggled to hold his lunch as he looked around, seeing some bodies that had been mutilated in horrific ways.

"I'm not entirely sure. Some are obvious, but others... I just don't know." The other officer admitted. "All the witness reports I have say they only heard screaming. No one actually saw anything."

"More like they're too afraid to speak up." Saikhan sighed. "Alright, I guess we've got yet another gang war on our hands, unless evidence has suggested otherwise?"

"There's something else though." The detective said. "It looks like the bartender was with the Red Lotus."

"You're sure about that?" Saikhan asked. The officer pulled out a small stone, engraved with the symbol of the Red Lotus.

"Pretty sure, yeah. I found this on him."

"Well then." Saikhan hesitantly said. "I need to call this in."

* * *

In a hidden location, four individuals were sitting around a table, some with barely concealed impatience, as they waited for the fifth member of their meeting to arrive. Three of the individuals, two female and one male, sat close together and far apart from the fourth, whose features were hidden by a distinct mask.

The segregation was because of both genuine friendship and a little bit of fear of the masked man, whose reputation was known even to them. Fortunately, he had agreed to ally with the organization, as their goals were similar enough.

A door opened to this hidden room, and a fifth figure walked in. The masked man simply crossed his arms, while the other three gave a respectful nod to this newcomer. After sitting down, the fifth man spoke.

"How are you all... adjusting?"

"It feels strange." The shorter of the two women admitted. "To be walking around like this once again."

"Agreed." The deep voiced man next to her nodded. "And combine that with everything that's happened... well, suffice to say, we've still got a lot to catch up on."

"Indeed we do." The taller woman agreed. "And I intend to, once we get him out."

"We shall." The newest arrival said. "But it must be at a time when the Avatar is distracted, and no sooner."

"What about the White Lotus?"

"I'll see to it that they're not a problem." The masked man spoke up for the first time. "You can count on it."

"Then be ready. Our opportunity will come soon."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to remind everyone to read the Avatar vs Ghost Rider chapter in Catalog of War if you haven't already, as this chapter takes place just after it.

Asami watched the fight in progress with mixed feelings. On one hand, she didn't like to sit out a fight like this, especially with her friends participating, but on the other hand, it was clear that their target wasn't a normal bender, especially considering all his flesh had burnt away, leaving a skull on fire in his wake.

It became clear just how above her this... thing was when it was struck by a continuous bolt of lightning from Mako and only slowed for a second before knocking the firebender out. If his lightning couldn't hurt it, then her shock glove wouldn't do a thing.

Still, it wasn't easy to watch as Bolin, Mako, and several Metalbenders were taken out by this monster, and it didn't get any easier when the demon had lit Lin's armor on fire, causing the police chief to collapse while screaming.

That had been the catalyst for Korra to go into the Avatar State, and for a brief moment, it looked like it would be enough to finally take the demon down... right up until it grabbed Korra with its chain and pulled her into its fist, knocking her out with one blow.

Asami couldn't stand by any longer, rushing over to Korra, desperately hoping she was alright. Thankfully she was, but the demon was getting away, smashing through a hastily erected stone barrier created by the police with its car.

...

With her head pounding, Korra watched as the car drove off, still spewing flames from its tires as it slid around a corner. Eventually, Mako recovered enough to say what they were all thinking.

"OK, what was _that_?" Then they saw Lin struggling to rise, groaning in pain.

"Lin, are you alright?" Korra and Bolin rushed over to help her up.

"I feel terrible." The Chief of Police groaned. "Where is that guy?"

"He got away." Asami replied.

"I'll order my officers to track him down." Lin finally got to her feet.

"Well, I think I can guess where he's going." Korra pointed to the yellow and green beam of energy that marked the location of the spirit portal. "I think he's trying to get into the Spirit World."

"You're about that?"

"Not entirely." Korra admitted. "But given the road he was taking, it's likely that that's where he's going."

"The airbenders are still protecting it." Asami noted. "We should let them know what's coming."

"Radio ahead." Lin gestured to one of her standing officers. "Let the airbenders at the spirit portal know that our fugitive is likely heading coming to them. Even if he isn't, see if they can spare someone to help locate him."

"Um, I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but how are they going to stop him?" Mako pointed out. "He just wiped the floor with all of us. For that matter, we don't even know who or what he is."

Their conversation was interrupted when a shadow flew over them, causing everyone to look up. Flying in the sky was Tamara, a former member of the New Air Nation revealed to be a Republic agent several months ago.

She had elected to stay behind on their world in order to aid against the Flood or any other extradimensional threats. Her presence here was either a relief or a bad omen as she came close to the ground.

"I believe we can help you with that." Tamara said as she landed.

A hologram of the man appeared in her hand, followed by the appearance of another different hologram of the Republic AI. Of all the things that had been introduced by the Republic, the concepts of holograms and AI were something the individuals of this world had trouble wrapping their heads around.

Computer technology was not unknown on this world, but it had yet to advance to even large scale data storage, let alone a completely sapient computer. The same could be said of holograms, which was like a mover, but three dimensional instead of two.

They had tried to get the explanation, but only Varrick, Zhu Li and Asami had knowledge before hand, and it was really all theoretical. For these reasons, seeing something so advanced like this, even months later, was hard to ignore, especially with how casually it was used. Those gaping were shaken out of their wonder when the AI spoke.

"His name is Robbie Reyes, though in a number of dimensions, he's better known as the Ghost Rider." The image shifted to the flaming skull, the one that had so thoroughly defeated even the Avatar. "His power comes from the extradimensional demon that he's bonded with."

"So, he's not one of your agents, I take it?" Lin crossed her arms.

"Well obviously not or we would just order him to stand down." The AI replied. "We've worked with him, but he doesn't work for us."

"So how do you guys plan to stop him?" Bolin asked, then looked at the devastation around him before turning back. "Please tell me you have some way of stopping him."

"We know someone who could talk to him." Tamara said. "I'll just need to make a call."

...

Far away, in another universe, a group of individuals had been gathered together by their Republic liaison, who had news they were all apparently interested in hearing, as well as a possible mission. Fortunately, he didn't keep them waiting long.

"So, Agent Smith." Phil Coulson greeted. "What do you have for us?"

"I figured you'd like to know that we've located Robbie Reyes." The Republic agent cut straight to the point. "And we may need your help to talk to him."

The other SHIELD agents, including Daisy Johnson, Lincoln Campbell, Elena 'Yo-yo' Rodriguez, Melinda May, Jeffrey Mace, Alphonso 'Mack' Mackenzie, Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons looked at each other. They knew that Robbie was alive, considering the reports of his car vanishing into a portal a month ago, but to hear that he had been found again was surprising.

"And why do you need us?" May asked.

"We need your help to talk him down." John Smith admitted. "He's been causing quite a bit of a mess for the world he's currently on."

"What's he doing there?" Now it was Daisy who asked the question.

"We're not sure, we've only just confirmed his presence today." The agent sighed. "Look, we could probably subdue him, but you know how powerful he is; I doubt it would be without casualties. He knows you, and has worked with you. At the very least, you all have a better chance of ending this peacefully." Team Coulson once again looked at each other, needing only a moment to come to a decision.

"Where is he?"

* * *

Robbie drove through the streets to the portal, ruminating on their mission so far. It was supposed to be simple: go to this universe, find the last page of the Darkhold and burn anyone who stood in the Ghost Rider's way.

As it turned out, finding it wasn't so simple. Something about the large amount of spirits on this world was making it difficult for the Spirit of Vengeance to get a lock on the page's position, though it was certainly somewhere on either this world, or the connected Spirit World.

Still, he had been searching for nearly a month now, tracking down members of this 'Red Lotus' who were no doubt keeping the page, though its exact whereabouts were clearly unknown even to them.

Through all this, the Spirit was getting frustrated, and by extension that frustration was bleeding into Robbie. But it wasn't solely the Ghost Rider's anger. The longer this took, the longer the two of them were away from Hell, and the longer it took for Robbie's deal to be finished.

He had known that offering to settle _all_ the Rider's scores wasn't going to be accomplished overnight, and he had desperately needed to stop Eli, but the sheer amount of entities the Ghost Rider hated and was hated by was staggering, and he was eager to get it over and done with.

Of course, even once the Rider's enemies were dealt with, there was no guarantee that he would be rid of the Spirit for good. It hadn't left once the Fifth Street Locos were all dead, and the demon hadn't said if it would leave this time either.

It was beginning to look like Robbie was destined to ride with it forever. But honestly, he was getting somewhat used to that fact. While the Ghost Rider could influence his actions, the connection was two way, and he had some level of control over it as well.

Their time together in Hell had almost given them a somewhat symbiotic relationship, and after the brief period in that other dimension where the Spirit of Vengeance had abandoned him and possessed Mack... suffice to say, Robbie didn't wish that fate upon anyone else.

If this was to be his curse, so be it. Even if it meant never seeing Gabe again.

His musings were interrupted as he started driving off road through the vines around the Spirit Portal when a tornado appeared out of nowhere, halting the Charger's movement as the wind buffeted the car.

The wind soon died down as a bunch of individuals in strange glider suits appeared and landed on the ground, blocking his way through. Sighing, Robbie got out of the car, walking towards the airbenders.

"I take it the Avatar called you?"

"She warned us of your arrival." One of the younger airbenders with an arrow tattoo on her forehead replied. "I'm afraid we can't let you through."

"Look kid, I don't want to hurt you." Robbie started. "But I need to get into the Spirit World."

"Again, we can't do that." It was Opal who spoke this time. "Korra and Chief Beifong want you to stay put, at least for now."

"Plus, the spirits are afraid of you." Kai interjected. "They all vanished into the Spirit World once your car appeared. And we need to know why."

"Does it look like I give a damn?" Robbie replied, the combined frustration boiling over once again. "I've wasted enough time by asking nicely. Get out of my way."

In response, Kai, Jinora and Opal unleashed a gust of wind that sent Robbie flying back into his car. He hit the metal hard and took a second to shake off the impact before drawing his chain.

"Alright fine." His eyes turned orange and his head began smoking. "We'll do this the hard way."

The hellfire burned Robbie's flesh away from the inside out, letting the Ghost Rider take full control. The airbenders paused in shock, but quickly got back to their senses as the Rider charged them.

* * *

It didn't take very long for Tamara's 'experts' to arrive. They emerged from a portal, five in all. One was a middle-aged balding man in a black suit, two women were clad in bodysuits with strange symbol on their arms, the younger of the two also had a pair of silver gauntlets over her forearms.

The other two were male as well, the fair-skinned and bearded one was clad in a black bodysuit similar to the females, while the other one was a tall dark skinned and bald man with what appeared to be an axe strapped to his back.

"Avatar Korra, I'd like you to meet some of the agents of SHIELD." Tamara said. Introductions were quickly exchanged before they got down to business.

"I'd love to observe the pleasantries, but I believe we have more pressing concerns." Coulson said. "We were told that Robbie Reyes was here?"

"He has a tendency of spontaneous combustion." Mack added.

"Yeah, we've noticed." Korra said. "And to answer your question, yes he is here."

"We believe he's heading to the Spirit Portal." Mako said, gesturing to the beam of light. "We've already got airbenders waiting for him there."

SHIELD of course had been given a quick briefing by the Republic before arriving: they knew this world had superpowers, but unlike their world, it was divided into four core elements and a couple of subtypes. Still, they knew what the Ghost Rider was capable of.

"They won't stop him." Daisy warned. "At the most, they'll only slow him down."

Having seen what the Rider was capable of, Korra and her friends knew just how true that was. Lin got back on the radio, this time contacting the Repbulic City military to provide aid.

"That may prove difficult." The voice of the radio operator replied. "We're not exactly ready to deploy en mass, with only one team currently near the Spirit Portal."

"Who's the nearest team?" Lin quickly asked. The answer was one none of them were hoping for.

"Kuvira's squad." The operator replied. "They're 3 minutes out."

In the last few months, Kuvira had proven that she wanted to make amends for attacking Republic City, especially after learning of the Flood, and she'd slowly been trusted with marginally greater responsibility and autonomy. But while Team Avatar was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, it was still difficult to trust and work with her.

"I'm guessing you guys have some issues with this Kuvira." Daisy noted, seeing everyone from this world looking uncomfortable.

"You could say that." Asami muttered.

It was at that moment that a ghostly figure appeared, causing the SHIELD agents to step back in surprise. Korra and her friends, on the other hand moved closer upon realizing it was Jinora.

"Korra, he's here!" The young airbending master said. "He's at the Portal and attacking us."

"Just hold on Jinora, help's on the way." She didn't answer, quickly disappearing to concentrate on the fight. Korra's glare turned to the new arrivals. "If anything happens to them-"

"He won't kill them." Coulson said quickly. "I can promise you that much."

"But we'd better get there fast." May added. "Before your friends need a hospital."

"Then let's go already." Mako said.

Korra whistled, and to the surprise of SHIELD, a large six-legged bison landed right in front of them. The saddle was proof enough of what their ride was, which was reinforced when Korra, Asami, Mako, Bolin and Lin climbed on.

"You've gotta be kidding." Mack more or less summed up all their thoughts.

...

By the time Kuvira and her team arrived at the spirit vine covered crater, it had become very clear that the fight against the Ghost Rider had not gone well. Scattered fires were burning the spirit vines in small patches. Most of the airbenders were scattered on the ground, with Opal and Jinora the only ones still standing.

At the moment, they were unleashing a large and powerful gust of wind at the flaming demon, but the Rider simply walked through it as if it were nothing more than a light breeze.

Once close enough, the Rider swung his chain managing to wrap it around Jinora as she and Opal attempted to fly away. He quickly sent the young airbending master into Opal, causing them both to hit the ground.

A blast of fire was immediately sent at the demon from one of the mechs, but the explosion only had the result of drawing the Ghost Rider's attention. In response, the two machines split up, trying to slow the monster down at minimum.

Meanwhile, Kuvira moved to check on the airbenders, firstly heading to Opal. After seeing that she was alright, just unconscious, she breathed a sigh of relief before moving to the others. Thankfully, some of the other airbenders were starting to wake up, and a few groggily got to their feet.

With the Air Nation relatively unharmed, she turned her attention back to the fighting at hand. The mechs had engaged the Ghost Rider, for all the good that was doing. The flaming demon was completely unharmed by every burst of fire or bolt of lightning that impacted it.

The Earth Empire mech suits kept firing anyway, while also keeping their distance. They were keeping out of the Ghost Rider's reach, at least until the Charger crashed into one of them, its wheels and engine alight as it drove on its own.

With the element of surprise, the Rider charged the second mech, which only now just realized it had let the demon get too close. The flaming chain wrapped around one of its legs and he pulled, tripping the armored suit before leaping on top of its chest, punching a hole through the cockpit glass. The flaming skeleton reached for the pilot, but was distracted when a trio of metal spikes impacted his back, which were promptly melted in the process.

With the mechs down, Kuvira launched herself into the fray, hurling blades of metal at the monstrous demon. She knew it was likely futile considering what she had seen, but the former Earth Empire dictator refused to back down.

To her credit, she managed to avoid most of the Ghost Rider's retaliatory strikes, but she couldn't do much to him regardless, and eventually managed to grab her leg with his chain, pulling her in front of him. He put her foot on her chest, and stared down at her, as if deciding whether to kill her or not. His momentary indecision was interrupted in the next moment.

"Robbie!"

The Rider turned at the voice, both surprised and honestly a little relieved. Surprised, considering he was not native of this Earth, but still somewhat relieved to see him, even under these circumstances. Sure enough, Phil Coulson, agent and Director of SHIELD was standing some distance away, alongside the Avatar and her companions.

"We need to talk."

The Ghost Rider turned its gaze back to the Spirit Portal, which was now being guarded by the airbenders who had woken up, then noticed the mechs that had their weapons trained on him as he stood over Kuvira. After a moment, and to Coulson's immense relief, the Ghost Rider began calmly walking toward them.

The chain wrapped itself around his body as the Rider walked towards Coulson. The flame on his skull abruptly cut out, leaving Robbie's skin to regenerate over his skeleton until he was human again.

"Agent Coulson." The young man greeted.

"Good to see you again, Robbie." Coulson had a half-smile that was an almost constant expression for him. "Though I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Likewise." At that moment, Robbie noticed the flying bison along with the SHIELD agents on top, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. "You brought everyone I see."

"I prefer a plane." Mack muttered while Coulson spoke to Robbie.

"Not everyone. Fitz, Simmons, Mace and Yo-yo are back on our Earth." Coulson shook his head. "But unfortunately this isn't a social call."

"I figured as much." Robbie sighed, looking in the direction of the Avatar and her friends. "I'm guessing you all want to know why I'm here."

"It would help." Korra said, as the rest of the SHIELD agents joined the gathering.

"Very well." Robbie sighed.

"How nice of you. So, do you mind explaining why the flameo you've killing Triads and Red Lotus agents?!" Lin crossed her arms and glared, while Robbie looked in Coulson's direction, who subtly nodded.

"The Darkhold."

"The what?"

"Evil book, filled with evil knowledge, and corrupts the people who read it into doing horrific things." Daisy rattled off in response to Bolin. "You know, that kind of thing."

"So the Gravemind has it?" Coulson interjected, a slight edge of worry in his voice, which quickly spread to everyone present. Fortunately, Robbie was quick to allay their fear.

"Not quite. I managed to get the book to a safe place, but it was only then that I learned the Gravemind had taken one of the pages."

"And so you tracked it here." Daisy guessed, which was confirmed by Robbie's nodding.

"I've been tracking it for the last month, trying to pin down the location."

"You managed to find the Darkhold easily on our Earth." Lincoln pointed out. "What changed here?"

"Something about the spirits of this world," Robbie said. "the sheer amount, it's affecting the demon's ability to track it. I know it's on this Earth, either in the material or Spirit World, but beyond that, it's hard to pinpoint. I've had to track down these Red Lotus agents who've seen it."

"So this thing inside you can find people who've seen this page, but it can't find the page itself?" Bolin surmised. Robbie snorted in spite of himself.

"I don't get it either." The Rider's host said. "But the demon, he wants that page back one way or another." He glared at the Avatar and her compatriots. "And I know for a fact that the Red Lotus have it."

It was at that moment that Tenzin arrived, flying down to meet the odd group as they discussed Robbie's presence. After greetings and getting the Airbending Master up to speed, it was clear that he had more bad news.

"I'm afraid we have another problem." Tenzin said.

* * *

In the hidden White Lotus prison, buried in the side of a mountain, Zaheer hovered cross-legged over the floor. He was focused on meditating, which normally meant he would be in the Spirit World, but on this day, it was simply to pass the time.

Today was proving to be a far more interesting day than most: explosions and screams rocked the prison, as it was clear that someone was breaking through the ranks of the White Lotus. Zaheer smiled as his rescuers broke into the room, completely overjoyed to see who it was.

"I didn't think it was true." The airbender said. "You're actually here."

"You rescued us from prison the first time around." Ghazan replied with a smile. "It's only fair that we do the same."

"Not even death will keep us down." Ming-Hua agreed. "Now let's get you out of here."

Ghazan's lava shuriken quickly cut through Zaheer's chains, allowing him to float freely, after three long years. An explosion interrupted his joy, only for it re-emerge upon seeing the cause. He dropped to the ground, well aware of her survival, but still finding it hard to believe.

"I thought I'd never see you again." Zaheer whispered, his voice overcome with emotion as he wrapped himself into P'Li's embrace.

"Neither did I." The combustion bender admitted, pulling away slightly before leaning forward and drawing the airbender into a deep kiss. Ghazan and Ming-Hua both rolled their eyes.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment." Ghazan said, causing Zaheer and P'li to break apart. "But could you save that until after we've escaped?"

"Agreed." Zaheer nodded, rising to the air once again. "Lead the way."

The four of them made their way back up the elevator shaft via their bending. Once they got to the top level of the prison, they found the ground littered with the fallen bodies of the guards, most of whom had fallen against the rest of the Red Lotus. However, a squad of White Lotus benders were waiting for them at the entrance.

The leader shouted "Halt!" before they all suddenly began seizing up, their bodies twisting in horrific ways before they all collapsed to the ground, all of them dead. A figure stepped out of the shadows, clad in a brown hooded jacket with a distinctive mask over his face.

"Good, you have him." Amon simply said. "Then it's time for us to leave."


	3. Chapter 3

"So, the Red Lotus leaders are back?"

"I'm afraid so." Tenzin answered. "The survivors confirmed it: Ming-Hua, P'Li and Ghazan broke Zaheer out of his prison cell."

"How is that possible?" Mako asked. "They all died years ago."

"The Darkhold." Mack stated. "That must be what the page contains."

"A way to bring back the dead." Coulson muttered. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Is bringing back the dead even possible?"

"Yes." Lincoln, Robbie and Coulson answered simultaneously.

"... ok, do I even want to know?" Bolin asked. May sighed.

"The three of them have died before." She gestured to the three who had spoken. "They were all brought back, in completely different ways."

"You have?" Tenzin looked at them, his eyes wide. "What did you see?"

"Darkness."

"Darkness."

"A bright light." Lincoln and Robbie turned their gaze to Coulson. "It's what I saw." He shrugged.

"As fascinating as this is." Lin interjected, her voice hinting it was anything but. "We clearly have a bigger problem. If those three are back with Zaheer, then we can guess what their target is."

"Me." Korra said as everyone's attention turned her direction. "They want to try their plan again." She shivered imperceptibly at the memory of what the Red Lotus had done to her before steeling herself again. "I won't let that happen."

"You may not have the luxury." May said. "Who knows what else is on that page?"

"You know, I've gotta ask, how did the Red Lotus get this Darkhold page in the first place?" Mako pointed out. "Because if the Flood is here, then don't we have bigger problems?"

"Don't worry about that." Tamara dropped in, surprising everyone. "If the Flood had returned, believe me, we'd know. It's most likely some Unitologists."

"Uni-what?" Opal asked her, but surprisingly it was Lincoln who answered.

"Insane religious fanatics who believe that the Flood is something to be worshiped." The Inhuman explained. "Some are suffering from mind control, others have just lost it, but either way, the Gravemind uses them for its own ends."

"Regardless of all that, we should probably move Korra somewhere safe." May suggested, causing Lin to nod in approval. "At least until they can be located."

"Seriously?" Korra exclaimed. "I can take care of myself."

"I don't doubt it." Coulson said. "But if the Red Lotus are connected to the Darkhold page, then they could have a lot of terrible weapons waiting for you."

"It's just temporary." Tenzin assured her. "No more than a few hours."

"Alright." Korra sighed. "I guess the Spirit World is as good as a place as any to go."

"I'm going with you." Asami said.

"So am I." Robbie interjected. "All the details I have right now suggest that the Darkhold page is hidden in the Spirit World."

"I'm coming as well." Coulson agreed before either Korra or Asami could react. "If a page of the Darkhold is loose, it needs to be found."

"Then it's settled." Tenzin said, gesturing to the rest of the airbenders. "We'll stay and guard the portal. If Zaheer wants to follow you again, he'll have to go through us."

"What about the rest of us?" Mako asked, gesturing to everyone else. "What do we all do?"

"Track down Zaheer and his cohorts." Kuvira spoke for the first time since this meeting started, drawing everyone's attention to her. "We can hardly let them walk around unhindered now, can we?"

"If these guys are as dangerous as you say," Mack started, gesturing to himself and the other SHIELD agents. "then we might need to get some extra support."

"Well, you could always grab Yo-yo." Lincoln suggested, with a smirk on both his and Daisy's face.

"I'll help you with that." Tamara said, pulling out a portal device, hitting a couple controls before tossing it to Mack. "This'll connect to the base on your world."

"What about you?" May asked.

"If Unitologists have made it to your world, we need to find out how." Tamara explained as a portal appeared behind her. "I'll be in touch." The rift closed in on her as soon as she said that.

"Well, I guess we have a plan then." Coulson interjected.

After hashing out a few more details, the two groups went their separate ways. Just after the quartet vanished into the Spirit World, Lin got a radio message from several of her officers; apparently the Red Lotus gang were seen to be splitting up.

"Seems kinda sloppy." May noted. "From what you've told us, they're a bit more cautious than that."

"Agreed." Mako noted. "But we can't just let them roam free."

"We're going to have to split up too, aren't we?" Bolin asked.

"I'm afraid so." Lin sighed. "We can't let any of them escape."

There was another brief discussion (during which time a portal was opened and soon closed), where the group was split into teams. Daisy and Lincoln would go after P'Li, Mako, Mack and the newly arrived Yo-yo would go after Ming-Hua, Bolin, Opal and Kuvira would find Ghazan and May and Lin would track down Zaheer.

Unknown to them all, a cloaked drone watched as they all separated.

* * *

While everyone else split up in the material world, Korra, Asami, Robbie and Coulson entered the Spirit World. The former two were admittedly expecting a larger reaction from the latter, but all Coulson said was a simple "Huh." while Robbie barely looked interested.

"Welcome to the Spirit World." Korra said despite herself.

"It's very nice." Coulson said politely. "Though where are the spirits?"

"I spoke with Jinora before we left." Asami said, looking in Robbie's direction. "She said that all the spirits fled when they saw his car approaching."

"They're afraid of you." Korra noted, surprised that they apparently considered him more of a danger than even her. Robbie just sighed.

"Well, I'm not the one they need to be afraid of."

They were interrupted by the appearance of the Guardian Spirit, the snake-like creature that had considered itself a protector of the Spirit Portal when it had first been opened in Republic City.

"Ah, the Avatar has returned." The spirit drawled, turning his gaze to Robbie and Coulson. "And you brought more humans with no respect for the sacred."

"We're here for information." Korra said respectfully. "That's all. We don't want any trouble."

"That all depends on what you seek, Avatar." The spirit replied, then cocked his head in Robbie's direction. "Or, I suppose what your ally is seeking."

"There's a torn book page." Robbie said. "It's not of this world. I know the Red Lotus have it and I need to know where it is."

"Ah, I believe I've seen such a thing." The guardian replied, floating closer to them. "Yes, I believe some other humans wanted to hide it here."

"Where is it?" Korra asked, to which the guardian smirked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

The spirit floated right around Korra, believing it couldn't be touched, which only made it more surprising to the spirit and everyone else (except Coulson) when Robbie's hand lashed out and grabbed the spirit by the tail as if it was solid.

"Maybe I wasn't clear." Robbie snarled, glaring at the struggling spirit, pulling it closer and wrapping his other hand around its neck. "You're going to tell me where they took it, or _he_ will make sure that you're nothing but a memory." Fiery eyes punctuated that statement, making the threat very clear.

"What are you?"

"Someone you don't want pissed off at you." Coulson answered for him. "He can be a bit hot-headed."

It was at that moment that the ground began to shake, and several trees from the nearby forest were knocked over. A large and crazed bear-like spirit emerged from the path and charged at the small group.

"Move!"

The four of them scattered from the corrupted spirit, one which clearly had evaded the Republic's efforts to destroy. Robbie, still holding the guardian in his hand, reached for his chain, unraveling it even as Korra unleashed the elements against it. Her attacks were enough to distract it, letting Robbie make his move.

Robbie's chain wrapped itself around the corrupted spirit, fire all along its length. The fire spread onto the spirit itself, quickly consuming and disintegrating it until not even dust remained.

"Now, do I need to ask again?" Robbie's focus returned to the spirit that was still struggling in his off hand. "Or do you want to share the same fate?"

"It's in the Spirit Library!" The guardian spirit gasped. "They entrusted the page to Wan Shi Tong."

"Him?" Korra had an expression of surprise on her face. "I thought he wasn't a big fan of humans?"

"Something changed about him ever since that dark being attacked him."

"You mean Dark Samus?" Asami asked. "The same being that corrupted all those other spirits? You didn't think that warranted concern?"

"Wan Shi Tong was always a recluse, even among the Spirits." The Guardian said quickly. "He hasn't been seen outside his library since the Perversion attack."

"Thanks for your help." Korra said politely, turning to the human holding him. "You can let him go now."

Robbie hesitated, taking a quick glance at Korra, then he released his hold on the spirit. As soon as he did, the spirit faded from sight, obviously desperate to get as far away from the Ghost Rider as he possibly could.

"So, this place has a library." Coulson noted. "I'm guessing it's not very public."

"Well, from what we've heard," Asami started. "it used to actually exist on the material world, but the previous Avatar wanted to use the knowledge to end the war with the Fire Nation."

"And Wan Shi Tong disagreed." Korra finished. "He pulled the library back into the Spirit World, and refused to let nearly any human use it, even betraying Jinora to my uncle Unalaq."

"Fascinating." Robbie interrupted. "So where is this Spirit Library anyway?"

"And how do we get to it?"

"That shouldn't take long." Korra said, closing her eyes. "Hang on."

When she opened her eyes again, a blue-white light had completely enshrouded them, signalling the activation of the Avatar State. The landscape sped past them until they were in front of a large tower.

"Very impressive." Coulson said, as Korra's eyes returned to normal.

"So Wan Shi Tong lives here?" Asami asked as they approached the entrance.

"He should." The Avatar replied. "Of course, if he's been corrupted, he could be anywhere."

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

Robbie walked to the entrance and opened the door, followed closely by Coulson, then by Korra and Asami. They entered into a cavernous hall, with a bridge in the center and rows upon rows of shelves all filled with books. Below were similar levels, with shelves, each one lined with torches.

"I don't suppose this place has a computer index?" Asami's confused expression answered Coulson's question. "Alright, I guess we're searching the hard way."

"Maybe not." Korra replied, seeing one of the library's fox spirit assistants lurking in one of the aisles. "Excuse me, can we get some help?" The fox retreated into the shadows, almost whimpering in response. "Ok, that's not promising."

"Humans!" A shadow flew over the four of them as the voice echoed through the room. "You do not belong here!" The shadow landed in front of them, a breeze marking the touchdown of who they were looking for. "And now you will not leave."

"I'm guessing this is Wan Shi Tong." Asami asked, looking at the massive spirit. "He's bigger than I thought."

"So he's a giant talking owl?" Coulson paused then gave a reluctant shrug. "Sure, why not?"

"Wan Shi Tong." Korra said, using airbending to lift herself to his level. "We have no conflict with you. We only wish-"

"I know why you're here, Avatar." The giant owl moved his head closer to Korra. "And you will not have it! It belongs to me!"

Wan Shi Tong headbutted Korra away before bringing his beak down towards the other three. A glowing blue circular shield popped out of Coulson's hand right before the spirit struck it, sending him flying back. Asami avoided the strike then shocked the bird in the neck, causing Wan Shi Tong to screech in pain and rear his head back.

Korra retaliated with a blasts of flame and large chunks of stone, further injuring the all-knowing spirit. He unfurled his wings and attempted to gain some altitude over them, but Robbie's chain wrapped around his leg, keeping him from getting too high.

A large block of stone impacted the owl's face, which combined with Robbie's strength, brought Wan Shi Tong to the ground, crashing through several shelves in the process. Before he could move, Korra created bindings around his wings and legs, trapping the spirit to the floor.

"Now." Robbie climbed on top of the now restrained owl spirit. "Where is the Darkhold page?"

"I will not tell you anything." Robbie's eyes began glowing in response.

"Trust me." Fire appeared in his hand. "You will."

...

Wan Shi Tong revealed which floor the page was on, but not the exact shelf. The reason for this was because not even he knew where it was: whoever had hidden it had been sure to do so away from the prying eyes of him and his foxes.

After confirming that the spirit was telling the truth, the four of them made it to the floor in question, which must've contained hundreds if not thousands of books. Reluctantly, they decided to split up, considering it would take forever to find it otherwise.

After a while, Asami had searched fruitlessly and hadn't made any progress, so she went to check on the closest person, which happened to be Coulson. He was methodically looking through the books, though he clearly wasn't enjoying it.

"You know, I haven't been to an actual library for some time." The SHIELD director said. "It's been a while since I've had to do something like this."

"You mentioned a 'computer index' before?"

"Yeah. Our Earth has developed to the point where entire libraries of books can be stored and accessed on devices smaller than a radio." The Director explained. "I figured your world hasn't developed that yet."

"It would make this easier." Asami said, then chuckled to herself. "Hearing what you have, it's hard not to be envious." The Future Industries CEO admitted. "After seeing some of the things the Republic can do, well, it just goes to show how advances in science can achieve so much."

"Well, our world isn't as advanced as the Republic." Coulson corrected. "But this feels like stepping back nearly a hundred years." He gave a sheepish look after saying that. "No offense."

"None taken." She replied. "I can't honestly say I wouldn't feel the same in your position."

After that, the two of them were silent as they looked around, occasionally pausing to mutter something regarding their search. Eventually though, a question that had been plaguing Asami's mind made itself steadily louder, before she couldn't help but ask.

"So, I thought you said you didn't have any powers." Asami started. "So how were you able to make a shield with your hand?"

"Oh, this hand isn't real." He replied, pulling the appendage off to prove it before quickly putting it back on. "Honestly, it's got a whole lot of cool features, though I'm not entirely sure how it works. Mechanically speaking, anyway." Asami paused for a moment then spoke again.

"It actually seems fairly simple." Asami replied, then launched into a technical explanation that gave Coulson pause. Fitz would definitely have been impressed if he had been here, Coulson was sure of that. Once she was done, Coulson only had one thought on his mind.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Tony Stark, would you?"

Asami turned away from her shelf, looking at Coulson in confusion, who shrugged sheepishly. "Right, forgot that you wouldn't know him." The Future Industries CEO was about to ask when they heard Korra shouting.

...

Korra walked along the aisles filled with books, already feeling exhausted just looking at how many there were. Trying to find one single blank page among all these books would be like trying to find one specific needle in a mountain made entirely of needles.

The only positive was the fact that Wan Shi Tong wouldn't be hounding them anymore, thanks to Robbie. She shuddered at the thought, honestly uncomfortable with her new 'ally' especially after fighting him only a few hours ago.

Shaking her head in bemusement, she thought back to how insane life had gotten in the months after Kuvira's assault. First it was the Flood and Dark Samus, which introduced them to the Republic and Separatists.

Then the Red Lotus returned from hiding to cause chaos, and now she was working with a man who could light his skull on fire. If someone told her three years ago that she would witness these events, she would've laughed in their face.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw movement several rows ahead. She could hear Asami and Coulson looking in the opposite direction, and Robbie was several rows away, which meant someone else was in here. Rushing forward, she reached the aisle in question and found out just who it was.

"Zaheer!" Korra shouted.

It was indeed the airbender. He was dressed in slightly more comfortable clothes compared to the rags he was wearing in prison, but his hair and beard were still long and disheveled like before. In his hand he was holding a blank piece of paper, which Korra assumed was the Darkhold page they were looking for.

"Korra." He said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting to see you yet."

In response, Korra sent a burst of flame followed by a burst of wind at him, but Zaheer nimbly avoided both without using his airbending, which meant he hadn't actually used the Spirit Portal.

"I'm sorry we can't discuss this calmly." The Red Lotus leader said, landing nimbly. "I guess that would be too much to ask after our last meeting."

"Who's your backer?" Korra demanded, summoning a bunch of bricks from the ground and throwing them at Zaheer, who narrowly avoided them. "Who gave you that page and why do you need it?"

"You'll learn soon. At any rate, I already have what we need." He turned at the sound of footsteps, seeing Robbie appear at the other end of the hall before turning back to Korra. "I see you have some friends here, so I guess I'll take my leave. I'll be seeing you very soon Korra."

While Zaheer was speaking, he kept his focus entirely on Korra. Because of this, he wasn't watching as Robbie ran down the aisle, his flesh burning off until only a fiery skull remained. And when Zaheer disappeared from the Spirit World, he unknowingly avoided the Ghost Rider's flaming chain by mere inches.

The flaming demon almost seemed to take a couple deep breaths as Asami and Coulson, having heard the disturbance, came up behind Korra, the former immediately asking what had just happened.

"It was Zaheer. He has the page." She replied. "He somehow took it with him before going back-"

Whatever Korra was going to say next died on her lips as the Ghost Rider let out a primal scream of pure rage. All three of them took several steps back as the Rider's fury echoed through the library.

"Well, that's new." Coulson whispered.

After the Ghost Rider's roars halted, he changed back into a slightly panting Robbie, who himself seemed somewhat afraid of the Ghost Rider's reaction, but also similarily angry. Eventually, Coulson moved forward as his breathing became normal, and Robbie didn't look any more murderous.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." The Rider's host replied hesitantly. "But he's not happy."

"We could see that." Asami snarked. "But now what do we do?"

"We find Zaheer." Korra replied. "I'm not going to let him run loose with that thing."

"Great in theory, but how are we doing that?" Coulson asked. "We have no clue where he'll go with it?"

"But I do." Everyone turned to Robbie, who had one hand on his head. "I was close enough for this thing to finally get a good reading. If he can feel the page in the Spirit World, we can find it in your world." His eyes briefly turned orange. "And we can find the rest as well."

For the first time ever, Korra found herself almost pitying Zaheer and his Red Lotus. They clearly didn't know the wrath they had brought down upon themselves by taking the Darkhold page.

* * *

"You have it?" Those were the first words Zaheer heard as soon as he returned from the Spirit World.

"Yes." He pulled the page from his robes and showed it to Amon. "But I wasn't alone. Korra was there in the Spirit World."

"Physically or spiritually?"

"Physically. Not that it matters." Zaheer replied. "You know the plan. Now, you have an important role to play."

"I know my job." The bloodbender said. "It'll be done."

The bloodbender left the building as Zaheer watched from his floating position. Amon was the Red Lotus' ace in the whole against the Avatar, her friends, and these new arrivals from SHIELD, whatever that was.

He had faith that his friends would be able to fight against the groups that were hunting them down. Meanwhile, Zaheer planned to first stash the Darkhold page in a safe place, then he would head for the Spirit Portal and hopefully draw the Avatar back out.

The Red Lotus would not fail this time.


	4. Chapter 4

"I've got to admit, this is an impressive vehicle." Lin said, turning to Agent May sitting in the cockpit.

"SHIELD only goes for the best." She replied, stepping out of the copilot seat and leaving the flying to Agent Davis.

They were standing in the bay of what the people at SHIELD had called a Quinjet, which they had brought in with the Republic dimensional portal technology. And it was far more impressive than any aircraft they had here.

VTOL capabilities combined with rather impressive sensors, even more impressive speed, and the ability to hide itself from visible sight. Mack and May had decided to bring it in after hearing about Zaheer's ability to fly, reasoning that none of them had the ability to do it themselves.

It definitely met with the approval of Lin and Tenzin to a lesser extent. Now, the Quinjet was cloaked and sweeping the area around the Spirit Portal, watching and waiting for something to appear. As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long.

"We've got something." Davis reported from the cockpit. "We've got a small object flying in from the south east, and I'm not getting any engine readings from it."

"Could it be a bird?" May asked, willing to consider every possibility.

"No, it's too big." The pilot replied. "And it's heading straight to the portal."

"Then get us there." Lin said. "It has to be Zaheer."

After a nod from May, Davis directed the Quinjet in the portal's direction, and they soon found that Lin's assertion was correct. Zaheer was indeed present, dueling with the airbenders in mid-air and doing everything he could to keep them all scattered and uncoordinated, to keep him from being caught like last time.

It was time to turn that around.

* * *

Zaheer flew past the strange aircraft that had appeared out of nowhere. No sooner had he started heading for the Spirit Portal, and after Amon had left, he had gotten into conflict with the airbenders guarding it.

That alone wasn't exactly a major issue (though he made sure to avoid Tenzin), but then he found himself being hunted by the unusual black aircraft that could disappear from sight.

He had quickly learned that keeping close was the only way to really avoid this thing's weapons, and so he flew around it, the plane sluggishly trying to keep him in its sights while several airbenders moved to intercept him.

He responded by either keeping them out of sight, or clipping their wings, forcing them to spiral out of control and causing some of the others to help them land safely. His tactics were working well, at least until something grabbed his leg, arresting his momentum in mid-air.

He turned to see Police Chief Lin Beifong standing on a ramp in the back of the aircraft. One of her cables was wrapped around a bar, keeping her from being thrown out while the other was currently wrapped around his leg.

Rather than trying to break away from her grip, he changed direction and flew toward her, kicking her away with an air blast. She responded by hurling shards of metal at him, while the non-bender SHIELD agent took aim with a strange weapon.

Fortunately, the confined space and the close quarters brawl that had erupted prevented her from getting a clean shot, at the risk of hitting Lin. Unfortunately, she recognized this and closed the gap, ducking under his wind punch and kicking his leg out.

He let himself float, ignoring the pain in his leg and threw her against the ceiling with a gust of wind, before turning back to narrowly spin away from Lin's cable. Meanwhile, May aimed and shot at Zaheer, but he managed to twist away in the last instant, the rounds pinging off the metal deck.

In response, he unleashed a gust of wind into the cockpit, causing the pilot to lose control of the craft and sending the other combatants flying. May's ICER went flying and Zaheer caught it, quickly turning it on May and firing a couple rounds.

He then pointed the weapon at Lin, but her cable wrapped around his arm and pulled, causing the shots to go wild. At this point, Davis got the Quinjet steady again, just as Zaheer kicked Lin away.

Realizing he wasn't going to make it to the Portal, the Red Lotus leader chose to make his retreat. Scooping up the unconscious body of May to keep the Quinjet and the airbenders from attacking him, Zaheer flew off into the night.

* * *

In another part of the city, Mako, Mack and Yo-yo were in one of the police cars, driving to where the report had last claimed Ming-Hua was. All through the drive, Mack was torn between wanting to take fix the car's engine, to annoyed that this world's currently best vehicles were something their Earth had retired nearly a century ago.

Their ride was interrupted as they drove near a canal, where the water launched itself at the car, knocking the vehicle over. It skidded to a halt, allowing the three passengers to extricate themselves.

Miraculously, none of them had been seriously injured, though the crash wasn't soft, and when they stumbled out of the car, they found their path blocked by the waterbender they were seeking.

"Had an accident?" Ming-Hua mocked, walking over to them with her arms at the ready. "You really should be more careful."

"I've got this." Elena said to Mack and Mako before everything happened so quickly.

It only took a second for Yo-yo to cross the distance and punch Ming-Hua in the face, which was enough to send her flying once Elena bounced back to normal speed, causing her water arms to disperse.

The Inhuman walked through the large puddle as the armless waterbender struggled to her feet, two small tendrils of water pushing her up. Time slowed for Yo-yo as she ran forward and gently pushed down on Ming-Hua's chest, putting her on the ground with a painful force to her. Once time resumed its normal pace, the bender was gasping in pain, to Yo-yo's amusement.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Ming-Hua responded by forcing the water Yo-yo was standing in to cover her before freezing it solid. Reassembling her arms, she turned one into an ice dagger and moved to stab Yo-yo in the neck before a burst of fire forced her attention to Mako.

The firebending police officer let loose flames against the armless waterbender, who retaliated with water strikes and ice daggers of her own. All the while, she was careful to avoid creating any large water puddles; she remembered how she died, and refused to let it happen again.

Their little battle went on, the two of them jumping around to avoid the other's attacks. Ice crystals, water bursts and fire blasts all flew across the street as the two benders fought it out, but despite Mako's efforts, Ming-Hua was the superior fighter and she proved it by closing in on him and grabbing him with her arm, throwing him at the nearest wall.

Mako used his firebending to dampen the impact, but it wasn't enough as he found all the air knocked out of his lungs. Coughing, he tried to get back into the fight, but then he found himself pinned to the ground by a sheet of ice, with a water dagger at his neck. Ming-Hua's psychotic glee wasn't pleasant to look at.

"I can't say I won't enjoy this."

Unfortunately, Ming-Hua had forgotten about Mack, who had been forced to check his fire while she and Mako had been battling. She heard a distinctive metallic click and turned, just in time to avoid the shotgun blast aimed at her back.

However, she hadn't been fast enough, and while her water arm slowed the velocity, the slug still pierced her side, drawing a considerable amount of blood and breaking her focus.

She collapsed to her knee and her arms dispersed as the shock and pain overtook her. Meanwhile Mack carefully approached, his shotgun-axe armed and ready to fire another round if necessary.

"Stay down lady."

Ming-Hua powered through the pain and suddenly a pillar of water struck Mack, knocking him off his feet and throwing his weapon from his arms. The water pillar froze him with only his head free, leaving the bender free to concentrate on healing herself.

With careful precision, she removed the bullet from her wound, before using waterbending to heal it completely, all the while gritting her teeth against the pain. She finished just in time to hear the distinct sound of flames rushing towards her.

She ducked under the wave of kicked fire and spun around, once again throwing Mako with her water hand. This time, the blow knocked Mako unconscious, just in time for a pair of Red Lotus benders to arrive at the scene.

"You're late."

"Our apologies." One of them replied. "We were organizing the Triads to keep the rest of the police distracted."

"Good. I'm assuming you have a vehicle?" Right on cue, a civilian truck (stolen no doubt) emerged from around a corner and pulled up to a halt in front of them.

"Load them up." Ming-Hua ordered, gesturing to the two frozen pillars and the unconscious Mako. "We need to leave."

...

Several miles away, things weren't going much better: Ghazan and a couple of Red Lotus Benders had engaged Kuvira, Bolin, and Opal. While the two Lavabenders fought each other, Kuvira and Opal were working together to fight the other Earth and water benders.

At first glance, it almost seemed like the two lavabenders were evenly matched, but very soon, Bolin proved to be a better fighter thanks to his service with Kuvira's army and then the Republic City police. By contrast, Ghazan had spent the last three years dead, and was struggling to keep control of the battle.

Even worse, the Red Lotus benders facing Opal and Kuvira were similarly outmatched, as the experienced airbender and metalbender easily outfought the earth, water and firebenders that had followed Ghazan. They needed to turn this around.

Thus, once Ghazan had briefly forced Bolin on the defensive, he unleashed a wave of lava at Kuvira, who was forced to divert her attention and create a pillar of rock to intercept it, while also launching herself away.

This left the metalbender open to attack, and both a water and firebender took advantage of the opportunity, striking her with bursts of fire and water. The former she was able to intercept but the latter knocked her off her feet, sending her flying into a nearby store.

Dazed, she was all but helpless as the two benders moved to finish her, but they were sent flying themselves once Opal launched them away with airbending. She then briefly took to the air, avoiding more attacks before retaliating against the rest of the benders.

In moments, the rest of the Red Lotus benders were down, leaving only Ghazan and Bolin still fighting. Less than a minute after, even that was finished: while Ghazan was avoiding a wave of lava, Bolin struck him hard with a rock, knocking him to the ground. Restraints appeared on the ground to hold him down, as both Bolin and Opal approached.

"It's over Ghazan." The answering smirk wasn't what Bolin was expecting.

"Not quite."

Opal's world exploded into pain alongside Bolin as the two of them felt their very bodies disobeying them. For the Earth bender, it was a familiar experience; someone was using Bloodbending on them. His eyes widened as the culprit stepped in front of them.

"You?!"

That was all Bolin could say before Amon increased his power, causing the couple to black out. They collapsed to the ground, just as Ghazan managed to free himself and the while the other benders approached.

"About time you showed up." The lavabender complained, then turned to the other benders. "Grab those two." He pointed to Opal and Bolin. "We need to leave."

Doing as they were ordered, they threw Bolin and Opal into the back of their car and drove away. Behind them, Kuvira staggered out of the store window, still dazed and only in time to witness the car driving away.

...

Daisy and Lincoln were a fair distance away in the outskirts of Republic City. Here, a lot of abandoned buildings were still present, making it a perfect hiding spot. Unfortunately, the Red Lotus took advantage of that, using many hiding places to draw the two Inhumans in.

Now, they were surrounded by several benders and four stolen Earth Empire mechs. If they had been benders as well, this might have been it, but as the two were Inhuman, Daisy knew exactly how to catch them by surprise.

"Down!"

Once Lincoln ducked, she released an omnidirectional shockwave that knocked away everyone near them, as well as the mechs and the car husks. Once that was done, Lincoln electrocuted every bender that tried to stand, leaving only the mechs in their path.

"Four against two?" Lincoln felt a grin in spite of himself. "Could be worse."

"No argument here."

They stood back to back, keeping the attention of two stolen suits each. One fired a blast of lightning, which Lincoln was quick to absorb and fire back with an amplified effect. The lightning quickly short-circuited the suit, rendering it powerless while trapping the pilot inside.

The other suit attempted to hit him with a fire blast, but Lincoln rolled out of the way before hitting the suit's leg with a bolt of electricity. With help from one of Daisy's vibration blasts, he pulled on the beam of lightning, tripping the mech up before increasing the voltage and shutting it down as well.

Meanwhile, Daisy's shockwaves were keeping the mech suits off balance in a way that even Earthbenders would be hard pressed to do. Spying an opportunity, she hurled a car into one of the suits before unleashing concentrated vibrations into the other, shaking out the screws and bolts with it. The mech quickly fell apart, leaving only one left.

The two Inhumans turned their attention to it, and between their powers, it stood no chance. Daisy's vibrations tore the weapons and most of the frame apart while Lincoln's lightning shorted out what was left and electrocuted the pilot. In a moment, the expensive and complicated machine had been reduced to a scrap pile.

"You know, considering they lack widespread computers, this is is pretty impressive." The energy manipulator noted.

"Iron Man is still cooler." Daisy said simply, causing Lincoln to chuckle.

Whatever he was going to say in response was interrupted when they heard a strange sound like a shockwave. Then an explosion sent the two Inhumans flying, thrown several meters away by the explosion.

Daisy was the first to rise to her feet, seeing a woman with black hair and a stylized eye tattoo on her forehead standing on the roof of a dilapidated single story building. A small projectile emerged from the tattoo, which Daisy scrambled to avoid, narrowly missing the explosion.

Grabbing Lincoln's arm as he was still rising, she pulled her boyfriend to the nearest cover, which happened to be an adjacent alleyway. The Inhumans made it to the cover just in time to avoid another blast.

"So, I'm guessing that's who we're looking for." Lincoln muttered, before another explosion buffeted them. Fortunately, while annoying, the explosions didn't seem to be that powerful, at least not yet.

"It looked like it." Daisy said. "Matched the picture we had."

"And she has explosive powers." The electrokinetic sighed. "Why does that feel so familiar?"

"You know what?" Daisy ducked as another blast buffeted her cover. "I think she might be more annoying than James."

"With her powers? Agreed. Personality-wise, that's still in the air." Lincoln said over the explosion. "How are we going to do this?"

"We just need to get her to our level." Daisy replied, peeking around the corner. "Cover me."

As soon as another explosion passed, Daisy ran out of cover, running for the downed mechs. P'Li responded in kind, firing more combustion blasts as the Inhuman ran. Lincoln took the opportunity to emerge from cover, firing bolts of electricity in her direction, one of which caught the combustion bender in the shoulder.

Annoyed, she turned her blasts toward Lincoln, causing him to duck back behind the alley way and allowing Daisy a chance to get closer. The SHIELD agent made her way to the building, coming to a halt on the other side of the street.

She let loose concentrated vibrations into the structure, damaging the foundation of the already dilapidated building. P'Li noticed this too late, losing her footing as her perch collapsed around her.

Miraculously, she managed to land atop the pile of masonry, though she didn't land softly. Daisy didn't give her a chance to get her bearings, instead shifting the rubble pile so that she stumbled and fell to the ground, landing painfully in a heap.

P'Li struggled to get to her feet, but Lincoln approached and electrocuted her with a bolt of lightning, sending her back to the floor. The energy manipulator slowly approached, hand outstretched and ready to shock her again if need be.

"Stay down."

"Lincoln!"

He turned to see what Daisy was worried about. All the benders he had shocked into unconsciousness were back on their feet, and wasted no time attacking them. Daisy retaliated with another large shockwave as Lincoln turned to help her.

Unfortunately, this allowed P'Li a chance to attack and she took it, firing an explosive blast between the two Inhumans. The other Red Lotus members wasted no time in knocking them unconscious and restraining them.

"Get the car." P'Li ordered. "We're taking them with us."

* * *

When May awoke, she was bound to a chair with restraints of metal around her arms and legs. Immediately finding lock picking useless when the cuffs around her had none, she instead took stock of her surroundings.

She was in a bare room, no doubt a makeshift cell of some sort. The bars on the door were a bit of a dead giveaway in that regard, but she also realized she wasn't alone in the room.

Mack and Yo-yo were also in the cell, in similar chairs with similar restraints. Opal was also in here, chained to the wall alongside them. She was the first to stir awake, followed by Mack and then Yo-yo.

"What happened?" The mechanic asked, briefly struggling against his bonds before realizing the futility.

"I guess things didn't go well on your end either." May said.

"You could say that." Yo-yo groaned.

"Are we the only ones?"

"Judging by her presence." May tilted her head towards Opal. "I doubt it."

"They took me and Bolin." The airbender said. "We never stood a chance against him."

"Who? Ghazan?"

"No. Amon, the one who caught us. And if he's here, then we're all in trouble."

"Why?" Mack asked. Opal's answer wasn't comforting.

"He's a bloodbender."

"That's not ominous at all." May snarked. "So, judging by the name, he can control the blood in someone's body?"

"Yes. And there's more. The one who took us, Amon: He was thought to be dead." Opal continued. "And I'm guessing the Darkhold brought him back like the others."

"A dead guy who can control blood." Mack sighed. "Gotta admit, that's a new one for us."

"Don't forget painful." Opal grimaced as she sat up. "Wait, where's Bolin?"

"He's in here." Mako's voice unexpectedly emerged from the wall. "They locked us in together; I think they're mad that we killed them."

"What's your condition?"

"Completely immobile." Mako frustratedly answered. "We're basically locked in metal coffins."

"Really starting to wish I'd learned metalbending." Bolin's voice came through the wall this time. "Opal, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, we're all fine." The airbender replied, sighing with relief.

"Though we can't say for how long." Mack interjected, before realizing something. "What about Tremors and Sparkplug? Were they taken?"

"I think so." Mako said. "I thought I saw them being brought in earlier."

"Maybe they can get us out." Yo-yo was answered from an unexpected and unwelcome source.

"Don't count on it." Amon's mask appeared outside the bars of their cage. "You're not escaping."

...

Several cells away, Daisy Johnson stirred, groaning from the headache she felt. Still, pain was good; it meant she was alive. Of course, given the metal restraints holding her to this chair, she wasn't exactly free yet.

"Daisy?"

"Lincoln?" She turned to see her boyfriend in similar restraints. "How long have we been here?"

"Hard to say." The Inhuman replied. "I only woke up about a minute before you."

"Where are we?"

"I'm guessing the Red Lotus HQ." Lincoln replied. "And we're not alone. I heard some of the guards say they brought in others."

"So, the old 'hold friends and loved ones hostage trick.'" Daisy rolled her eyes. "How cliche can you get?"

"I guess we're busting out?" Lincoln whispered, wary of any guards hearing them. Daisy merely nodded and set to work.

She unleashed a small shockwave on her bonds, breaking them open and quickly helped Lincoln escape his. She then moved to the cell door to blast it open, but suddenly her arm twisted painfully and she fell to her knees.

"Daisy!"

Lincoln tried to electrocute the masked man behind the door, but found the same thing happening to him. The two Inhumans fell to the ground, struggling against Amon's bloodbending and failing.

"Don't try to fight it." The masked man said. "Or this will just get more painful."

While the two Inhumans were frozen in pain and by Amon, a couple of Red Lotus agents opened the cell door, grabbed the two and bound them to their chairs again before quickly leaving. Finally, Amon's power loosened, but the bender in question was still there, to ensure they didn't try again.

"Guess we're stuck here." Lincoln finally muttered as the pain went away. The answer came from an unexpected source.

"Don't worry, you won't be prisoners for long." Zaheer emerged, standing next to Amon. "Once we have the Avatar, you and your friends will be free to go."

"For some reason, I find that hard to believe." Daisy struggled against her metal bonds to prove the point.

"We have no quarrel with any of you." The airbender shook his head. "Once we have Korra in our possession, we will release you."

"Really?" Daisy scoffed. "You're not the first anarchists we've encountered. They tend to go back on what they claim."

Zaheer said nothing, instead walking away to talk to one of the few metalbenders working with the Red Lotus. He and a couple others were the ones responsible for binding all of them in their restraints.

"Bring them." Zaheer ordered, as the metalbender nodded. "And be sure to gag them all."


	5. Chapter 5

When the quartet of individuals emerged from the Spirit World, they were met by the airbenders who had been guarding it. Of course, given the looks on their faces, the news they had wasn't good.

"Agent Coulson, I'm afraid we have some bad news." Tenzin said, sorrowfully. "Your friend, Agent May, was kidnapped by Zaheer."

"Wait, when did this happen?"

"About half an hour ago, sir." Coulson turned to the voice, surprised to see Davis here. "He grabbed her during his attempt to get through the Spirit Portal."

"She's not the only one." Everyone looked at Kuvira as she approached. "Bolin and Opal were taken by Ghazan."

"It gets worse." Lin walked away from the radio to deliver more bad news. "My men have reported that Mako and your SHIELD agents are also missing. The Red Lotus likely took them as well."

"What about Daisy and Lincoln?" Robbie asked.

"They haven't reported back." Davis replied. "Given the pattern, I think we can guess what happened."

"That means that they could be anywhere." Kuvira cursed. "We have no way of tracking them."

"But I do." They all turned to Robbie as he spoke. "Zaheer took the Darkhold page from the Spirit World, which I can now track."

"I thought you said you couldn't do that before." Lin's eyes narrowed. "Why the change?"

"I'm not sure." Robbie admitted. "I'm not entirely sure how it works myself, but the thing in me is drawn to the dark matter it's made of. With it's signature detectable in the Spirit World, I can narrow it down now."

"We're coming with you." Korra interjected. "If you can track Zaheer, and he'll certainly go to where our friends are being kept, then we can go and get them out."

"What about us?" Kuvira asked. "We need to bring the Red Lotus down."

"And don't think for a second about going alone." Lin said, pointing at the Avatar. "This is clearly meant to draw you into a trap."

"That's why our best move is to spring the trap." Coulson replied. "No doubt Zaheer and his buddies are going to send a message to have Korra deliver herself to them. But since they don't know Robbie can find them, we show up on their front door. From what you've told us, these guys play by holding their cards close to their chest. If we break that pattern, we throw them off their game, and in their confusion, we can bring reinforcements in."

"And what of the hostages?" Kuvira asked. "They could just kill them the second you show up."

"It's possible." Coulson admitted. "But if what you've said is true, they are principled and don't want to kill unless they have to. They may even use their direct presence as more leverage, using emotional manipulation to get us to do what they want."

"That's a pretty big gamble." Asami noted. "I don't like it, but it could work."

"Hey, it wouldn't be the first time the Director's done something like that." Davis said, leaning up against a vine. "It's worked out pretty well since I started working for him."

"And I would go in alone if I could." The director in question stated. "But I think they'll be more willing to talk if Korra is there as well."

"So, instead of going in on the Red Lotus' terms, we go in on ours." Robbie summed it up, then shrugged. "It worked against my uncle."

"It's still a risk." Lin folded her arms.

"Well then, you can follow us in the Quinjet." Coulson pointed to a random patch of vines, which had a small but noticeable shadow in the morning sun. "I mean, you brought that for a reason, right?" The aircraft uncloaked, causing Korra and Asami to double take in surprise.

"And you'll go in through the front door?"

"You're going to need a distraction." Coulson answered Tenzin. "It's the best chance we have."

"Then it's settled." Korra said before anyone else could argue. "We're going to take down the Red Lotus before they know what hit them." Robbie nodded.

"We'll take my car."

Engine noises echoed around them as the Hell Charger drove through the landscape of the Spirit Wilds before coming to a parking halt right in front of the group. Coulson looked appreciatively at the car before turning to Robbie.

"Driving with your mind? That's a new one."

"I've picked up a few tricks these last few months." Robbie shrugged. "Now, let's go."

...

A few minutes later, they were on the road, driving through the streets of Republic City as Robbie and the Spirit of Vengeance zeroed in on the Darkhold page. Above them, hidden from view was the Quinjet, piloted by Agent Davis and with Lin, Kuvira and several of Republic City's best officers.

Lin was also on the radio, mobilizing more police and White Lotus members, along with tentative requests for support from the United Republic's military. Robbie was barely paying attention to any of that, leaving Coulson to chat with Korra and Asami, who were sitting in the back seat.

"So how long have you two been a couple?"

"Is this really the time to ask that question?" Korra said defensively.

"Maybe not." Coulson responded. "But we've still got time to kill before we get to where we're going." The two looked at each other and sighed.

"We've been together for over nine months." Korra said. "It's been... amazing."

"It has." Asami's hand clasped over Korra, gazing lovingly into her eyes. But Korra saw something else on her expression as well: fear.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Korra's raised eyebrow illustrated both her disbelief and concern. "Ok, I'm worried about this. The last time you faced the Red Lotus, you nearly died."

"We made it through that, we can make it through this."

"I know, but with Kuvira, the Flood, Dark Samus and now him," Her head tilted in Robbie's direction. "Everything's changed, and not all of it's for the better. And now with the Red Lotus back..." She closed her eyes for a second, when she opened them again, she was looking at her intently.

"I just don't want to lose you." Asami said, holding back tears. Korra pulled her close and kissed her deeply, causing Coulson to find something else to look at out the window.

"You won't." Korra said when they broke apart.

"If you two are done." Robbie coughed, causing both women to blush. "We're here."

They had arrived in front of an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city, near the river and ocean. Getting out of the car, the four of them walked towards the small door that led into the building proper.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Coulson asked.

Right as he said it, the door behind them slammed shut, plunging the room into darkness. A single overhead light snapped on a moment later, revealing Zaheer, P'Li, Ghazan, and Ming-Hua standing in front of them.

"Yeah, I think we're in the right place." Asami snarked.

"I'm impressed." Zaheer admitted. "I don't know how you managed to find our meeting point, but it saves us the trouble of finding you."

"Like you were going to try." Korra said. "You captured everyone to lure me in. That was your plan wasn't it?"

"An unfortunate but necessary action."

"I'm sure." Asami snarled.

While they were speaking, Robbie and Coulson looked around, the latter taking in the environment of this semi-empty building and how to make use of it, while Robbie's gaze was on the three compatriots of Zaheer.

"So, you're the ones who came back." Robbie said. "The ones who should be dead."

"We've been given a second chance at life." Ghazan stated. "And I for one don't intend to waste it."

"This doesn't have to end with bloodshed." Zaheer added. "We only want the Avatar. Once we're done the rest of you can go free." Coulson snorted.

"I've heard that one before." Coulson said. "Even if that were true, you have something that's not yours, and my friend here," He gestured to Robbie. "would very much like it back."

"And what might that be?" Zaheer asked.

"The very thing that brought your friends back." Robbie replied. "I'm taking it, one way or another."

"Well, there's no need to be so violent." Ghazan said. "We want this to be peaceful."

"So do we." Coulson said. "It's why I'm asking you to surrender. This can end with everyone walking out alive."

"You're fairly confident, considering how outnumbered you are." Ming-Hua noted.

"Are we?" Coulson's half-smile never wavered. "Did you really think we'd be foolish enough to come here alone? The police are already gathering outside to bring you down." There was a moment of silence, as the Red Lotus were clearly blindsided that Coulson intended to risk the hostages.

"Call them off." The airbender ordered. "Right now."

"Hm, why would I do that?" Coulson said. "You four are wanted criminals, right?"

"I take it your answer is no then." Zaheer sighed. "Even if it means your friends will die?"

Another light switched on in the warehouse, revealing Mako, Bolin, Opal, Daisy, Lincoln, May, Mack and Yo-yo all restrained and gagged behind them. With a gesture, Ming-Hua had a spear of water pointed at each of their necks.

"I mean, I certainly don't want them to." The SHIELD director replied. "But they all knew the risks when they took this job. This is simply one of them."

"And is the Avatar okay with this?" Zaheer spoke slightly faster. It was clear that Coulson was throwing off his script. "Your friends are here too."

"You gave your word last time, Zaheer." Korra stated angrily, catching onto Coulson's plan. "And you still held all the airbenders hostage. I have no reason to believe you now."

"An unfortunate event." The airbender sighed. "One I didn't want to repeat."

"Really?" Coulson snarked. "Cause you seem quite good at the 'taking people hostage to force the hero to surrender ploy.' I mean how cliche can you get?"

From behind her gag, Daisy made a noise that sounded distinctly like "That's what I said!" Asami noticed that all the SHIELD agents seemed both worried, but also almost bored with their capture, as if they were used to this.

"You would really be willing to let them die?" P'Li spoke for the first time. "You'd sacrifice them for your goals?"

"Wouldn't you?" Asami growled. "You've all done so before, remember."

"You're not repeating what you did last time." Korra growled.

"It's just as well then." Zaheer's suddenly calm demeanor caught Coulson by surprise. "We don't actually need to kill any of your friends. But I must thank you Korra, for coming so willingly." He turned to one of the darker corners of the warehouse. "It's time."

"So be it."

The voice rang out as the four of them felt themselves freeze painfully, as the very blood in their bodies went against their will. Korra started walking forward, trying to fight against every step she took.

Out of the shadows stepped a man in a mask, one which made Asami and Korra's eyes widen. It was Amon, alive and unharmed. When they had heard that the Red Lotus leaders had been revived, no one could've anticipated that they would do the same for the leader of the Equalist movement.

"So nice to see you again, Avatar." He mocked. "Let the police try to help. My ability has grown since the last time we were face to face."

"Why?" She gasped out, struggling to get any word out. "Why would you help them?"

"Things change, Korra." Amon said. "They brought me back, and showed me a new path. One where all will be equal."

No one liked the sound of that.

"Take her with us." Zaheer said. "We have everything we need."

Korra's eyes widened as the Red Lotus' intent became clear, especially with a bloodbender like him. Take away her bending, and give them a chance to kill her while she was powerless and repairing the damage.

She could use the Avatar State to break free right now, but it also would give the Red Lotus the opportunity they wanted to kill her again, and this time with a better chance of succeeding.

They had played their ace in the hole, and it would likely succeed. Except Korra realized that they had their own ace, one she didn't even realize she really needed until now. All that had to be done was for him to cut loose. Fortunately, it seemed that was his plan.

"You're not going anywhere." Robbie snarled, fighting for control. "You really have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Stay back boy." Amon said. "Or this pain will be nothing compared to what else I can inflict."

"You have no idea what pain is." Robbie growled out.

"Oh I do." Amon said, stretching his hand towards him. "And you will as well."

Robbie roared in agony as Amon manipulated his blood even further, the waterbender and the Red Lotus members feeling quite confident that there was little any of these 'SHIELD' individuals could stop them now. Then Robbie's pained roaring turned demonic.

For all their experience and new allies among the multiverse, even Zaheer's gang and Amon were stunned and horrified at what happened next: Smoke poured out of Robbie's head before his flesh was incinerated within a second, leaving only the flaming skull behind.

While his enemies gaped at the transformation, Ghost Rider was already moving, swinging his flaming chain at Amon. Due to his shock, the waterbender was too slow to really react, only recognizing that his bloodbending was having no effect on a flaming skeleton before the chain had wrapped around his waist and arms.

Agonized screams emerged from Noatok's mouth as fire crawled up his body, becoming disturbingly distorted as his lungs and vocal cords were boiled away before the sound mercifully vanished.

All that remained of the revenant leader of the Equalist movement was a charred and smoldering corpse, before the Ghost Rider pulled the chain away, causing the once great Amon to crumble into dust and ash on the ground.

For a moment no one moved. Then Zaheer moved to grab Korra, but Daisy unleashed a shockwave, breaking free of her bindings and catching him and P'Li, capitalizing on their distraction and sending them into the warehouse wall.

After being freed, Lincoln quickly followed suit, sending a bolt of electricity at Ming-Hua, stunning and throwing her into the wall, then at Ghazan, who narrowly avoided it by bringing a pillar of stone up in his path.

His protection didn't last long as Bolin shattered it with his own stone while Mako unleashed a blast of fire right after. Meanwhile, Korra immediately began fighting several Red Lotus foot soldiers at once, easily bringing them down, while Asami shocked a Red Lotus waterbender, then took down an Earthbender.

May was already in close combat with several benders, her proximity making her a difficult target. Coulson blocked a barrage of stone and fire with his shield before shooting one bender down. A waterbender tore the gun from his hand but was knocked away by Opal.

Mack was beating down on one firebender while Yo-yo sent another waterbender flying when he tried to ambush him. And through all this, the Ghost Rider was carving through the Red Lotus foot soldiers, in some cases quite literally.

More Red Lotus members came into the warehouse, ready to turn the tide, but the arrival of the Republic City Police and White Lotus forces outside forced them to split their forces up to keep them at bay. Soon, the whole fight had devolved into a chaotic melee.

Meanwhile, Zaheer had recovered from Quake's attack and flew towards Korra. The sight brought back unpleasant memories for her, but she pushed them aside, refusing to let those memories control her. She created several pillars to in front of him to slow him down, followed by bursts of fire and wind.

Water was what ultimately brought him down, as Korra manipulated a nearby water pipe, sending the liquid hurtling towards Zaheer. The construct sent him flying back into the wall, where he quickly moved to rise and attack the Avatar again.

"Not this time." That was all Zaheer heard before his world was pain, as electricity from Asami's shock glove coursed through his body.

The Future Industries CEO was then ducked under a cable whipped by the Red Lotus metalbender, before grabbing the metal length and electrocuting it. Unfortunately, this left her open, and she narrowly avoided a blast of fire before being struck in the stomach by a stone and then hurled off her feet by a water burst.

The Earthbender moved to rescue Zaheer while the other two moved to finish off Asami, but Korra knocked the two of them away while the one helping Zaheer was sent flying, seemingly by nothing.

Yo-yo bounced back to her former position, time briefly returning to normal before it slowed again, this time as she punched another three benders while they couldn't react. While in speed time, she saw Zaheer's eyes open, and planned to deal with him in her next run.

But it was not to last: once Yo-yo was still, Ming-Hua hurled several ice daggers at her, one of which caught her in the leg. She fell to the ground with blood leaking from her wound, helpless to the hailstorm of ice sent her way.

A shockwave from Daisy redirected and shattered the shard storm in mid-flight, while Lincoln immediately electrocuted Ming-Hua. The Inhumans were then surrounded by a wall of stone and metal, as the other Red Lotus earthbenders moved to contain them.

Suddenly the wall was shattered by Korra, who easily broke through the Earth and attacked the Red Lotus benders. Blasts of fire, air, water and earth knocked the benders backed, and at one point the Avatar unleashed a burst of flame from her mouth to suppress a pair of water benders.

"Ok, so she can breath fire." Daisy deadpanned. "Good to know."

Meanwhile, the roof above partially collapsed as more metalbenders rappelled in to the warehouse. They had hoped surprise was on their side, but Ming-Hua recovered and caught them halfway down, blasting them into the wall, before freezing the water.

Meanwhile, P'Li got a good look at the source of those benders: the black SHIELD aircraft had retreated to a safer distance, but it was still in view, still providing overwatch for the Avatar and her allies.

That just wouldn't do.

From her position, P'Li fired a combustion blast at the Quinjet. The aircraft banked out of the way, but the shot arced and struck the engine, destroying it and causing the SHIELD vehicle to spin off uncontrollably.

She turned her gaze to the flaming demon, who had just broken the neck of another Red Lotus agent. A combustion blast emerged from her third eye, striking the Ghost Rider head on. To her surprise, the blast only had the effect of drawing the demon's attention.

The Hellfire chain whipped toward her, and she ducked, narrowly avoiding having her head taken off, though the tip of her braid was now burning. Another Earthbender retaliated against the Rider, hurling stones against the monstrous demon. This only sealed his death, as the Ghost Rider's chain wrapped around his throat and twisted, breaking the man's neck.

While the Rider had been viciously killing the Red Lotus, the rest of SHIELD had been no less efficient. Yo-yo had been effective at taking down benders before her wounding, and the others had been able to outmaneuver and/or overpower their opponents, a great boon to the Avatar and her friends.

Now with metalbending reinforcements to help, all the Red Lotus soldiers had been dealt with, leaving the four leaders cornered by five SHIELD agents, Korra, her four friends, Kuvira, Lin, several of Republic City's best officers, and one pissed off demon. Without Amon, it was clear that they were outmatched.

"We need to get out of here."

Ghazan responded by turning the ground into lava, creating a moat between the Red Lotus and their enemies before sending waves of molten rock at them. While Bolin worked to counter and cool Ghazan's attack, Ghost Rider merely charged through it, chasing the quartet as they fled.

An airship waited for them, their main means of escape. And with the Quinjet gone, any meaningful method of stopping their escape resided from the one following them. Zaheer unleashed a burst of wind at the Rider alongside P'Li's combustion blast, but the demon hardly broke stride.

Ming-Hua launched a hail of ice daggers at the now running monster, but Ghost Rider leapt and did a 360 degree spin, his hellfire chain vaporizing all the ice on contact. Ghazan launched him in the air with Earth bending, but the Rider used that to his advantage, angling to land on top of them.

It was only when all four of them combined their powers at him in mid-air that they were finally able to halt Ghost Rider, sending him flying back. But he landed on his feet and skidded to a halt, showing them that the demon had only been inconvenienced rather than harmed.

Of course, it provided them with enough of a distraction to get onboard the airship, which had already started flying away the instant they were on board. Robbie turned just as the rest of his friends and allies emerged to see the same thing.

"We need to bring that thing down."

"Leave that to us."

Tenzin flew overhead alongside Jinora and four others. Korra moved to join them, but remembered that she didn't have her glider staff on her, and she couldn't use the Avatar state unless she wanted to give the Red Lotus a free opportunity to end the cycles permanently.

The ground bound individuals watched Jinora and Tenzin led the airbenders into battle, their combined prowess more than enough to bring the ship down when they worked together.

Unfortunately, the anarchists had no intention of giving them that chance, as Zaheer flew out to engage them himself while P'Li aided him with combustion blasts. Coulson winced at the sight.

"They're gonna get hammered." He turned to Robbie. "I don't suppose you've learned to fly since we've seen you last?"

The Rider's host shook his head, his own frustration etched onto his face. Korra had a similar expression, as did May, who was still fuming over the crash of their Quinjet. Thankfully, Davis had emerged from the craft relatively unscathed, but it wouldn't fly again without a serious amount of work.

"Maybe I can." Daisy said, turning to her boyfriend. "Give me a boost."

Nodding, Lincoln crouched down, letting her get a foothold on his knee. Grabbing his hands, Daisy felt the familiar tingle of his static charge flow through her body, making her feel far lighter. It was a tactic they had been putting to good use: Lincoln would get her off the ground, allowing Daisy to use her own power to launch her to far higher altitudes.

Which is what happened right now.

Normally she wouldn't be foolish enough to try catching an aircraft like this on their own world, but with the slower velocities of the airships in this one... well it was easy. Her speed and Zaheer's distraction with the other airbenders ensured that she landed on top of the airship, conveniently close to the main engines.

Wasting no time, she unleashed a continuous blast of vibration energy, shaking the propellers and mechanism apart, while simultaneously sending vibrations through the rest of the airframe's structure. It didn't take long for the pilots to notice.

"We've got an unwanted passenger." The Red Lotus driver said. "Near the engines."

"Zaheer!" P'Li shouted. "We have a stowaway at the rear of the ship."

The airbender flew to the engine block, spotting the intruder in question as she slowly but surely tore the ship apart. Daisy's sabotage was halted when she spotted Zaheer, who nimbly avoided a stream of vibration.

Zaheer then hurled her off with a gust of wind, sending her falling to the ground. Getting herself under control, she unleashed vibrations below herself, slowing to a safe stop until she landed on the street.

The Red Lotus tried to get their airship under control, but unfortunately for them, the damage had been done, considering the smoke listing from it. Zaheer was also in trouble, as without P'Li's suppressing fire, they combined their abilities to create a mini tornado, sending the anarchist leader hurling towards the ground.

He barely got himself under control before he hit the pavement, and waited until they were close before striking at them again, dodging and weaving to keep them all disorganized and cutting through their wings to force them to the ground.

Once he had dealt with the airbenders, Zaheer headed to the crash site.

...

Back at the warehouse, the rest of SHIELD and the Avatar's team were gathering at their vehicles, having gotten reports from both the airbenders and Daisy as to where they had crashed.

The sound of the Hell Charger briefly brought them all to a halt as the tires and engine roars closed in on them. Robbie didn't even wait for the car to stop, instead leaping in the driver's door as it opened and passed him by.

"Where's he going?" Lin asked.

"To get what he came for." Lincoln replied.

* * *

Once the airship crash landed, the three leaders inside stumbled out of the wreckage, while the fourth flew down to check on them. "Are you alright?" There were three confirmations to Zaheer's question just as police sirens approached.

Two satomobiles rounded a corner, only for them to flip into the air one by one by a pair of combustion blasts. Zaheer flew over to the vehicles as the drivers forced their way out and tried to attack, swiftly dispatching them.

"We need to move." Zaheer idly heard the sound of another speeding engine, but paid it little mind. "The Avatar and her friends will be here, soon."

"Along with those 'SHIELD' people and whatever that thing was." Ming-Hua said as they ran (or flew). "We need those Unitologists to help us."

"Assuming we can get to them." P'Li muttered.

Meanwhile, Ghazan was focusing on running, but while doing so, he was also using rudimentary seismic sense to scan for any abnormalities. So far, there were no other police nearby, but there was one car still driving towards them. It definitely did not feel like a normal satomobile, but it did feel kinda familiar.

And it was definitely heading towards them. Soon, he didn't need the sense to detect when the vehicle rounded a corner at the far end of the road behind them. He turned to get a look and his eyes widened in terror.

"It's that flaming guy!" Ghazan shouted.

Zaheer and P'Li followed his gaze and saw that same unusual black car on their tail. The car's tires and engine block were on fire, but if what he did earlier was any indication, it probably didn't mean that the vehicle was malfunctioning.

"We need to leave." Zaheer said, searching the immediate area. Fortunately, there was an abandoned truck nearby. "Get in, quickly." The airbender shouted. "I'll provide overwatch."

Quickly hotwiring the engine, the other three Red Lotus leaders piled into the vehicle, with Zaheer taking a position on the roof. With Ming-Hua at the wheel, the truck set off in a cloud of tire smoke, while the Hell Charger followed in pursuit.

Ghazan and P'Li opened the rear doors, unleashing lava, stone pillars and combustion blasts in an effort to at least slow the demon. So far, it was having an effect, as the car was either slowed by the impacts, or had to swerve to avoid the worst of the explosions and lava, to avoid grinding to a halt.

But it wasn't enough. The Charger was slowly but surely gaining on them, with the police only a couple blocks behind him. Zaheer could see this, and knew that something else was needed. Fortunately, their path took them right to such a solution.

"Head to the East bridge." Zaheer shouted when he landed back on the truck. "Collapse it as we cross."

The truck immediately swerved as it rounded a corner, which Robbie wasn't ready for. It brought them a moment to increase their distance as they headed to their destination, but they still needed to hurry.

The East bridge was an unfinished crossing over one of Republic City's tributaries, leading into the mountains. It was a new construction effort by President Raiko to redirect incoming and outgoing traffic from Republic city away from the glassed land that remained of the Flood incursion.

One lane had been finished already as the crews were still working on increasing the bridge size. Now, it would provide their means of escape. Construction personnel scattered as the truck drove through the fences, as Zaheer dealt with the token police guarding it.

As Ming-Hua drove across the causeway, Ghazan and P'Li set to work, using lava and explosions to destabilize the bridge. The concrete structure began collapsing as they made it to the other side, leaving the Hell Charger stuck on the wrong side.

The Red Lotus didn't stop driving, desperate to put as much distance between themselves and the demon as possible.

...

Further back, Lin, Korra, Asami and Agent Coulson sat in the lead police car of this small convoy, trying to catch up with the Red Lotus and Robbie, who was in hot pursuit of the former. After a brief break where Mack and Davis took Yo-yo back to their universe for medical treatment, the rest of SHIELD joined in the pursuit.

They kept up the pace, with one of the cars taking a detour to pick up Daisy along the way. Now, Lin was listening in to the radio, as police airships and Tenzin's airbenders were trying to find their location.

Of course, that didn't take very long.

"We've got eyes on them!" Bumi's voice came through the speaker. "They're on fourth and second, heading for the East bridge."

"Copy that." Lin acknowledged. "We're on our way." She changed the channel, connecting to the rest of the police. "All units, the fugitives have been spotted heading for the East Bridge. Converge on that area."

"Wish we still had the Quinjet." Coulson muttered, shifting in the back seat.

"You know, I was wondering if I could get a look at that plane's design specs." Asami admitted. "It would be a major boon here once you're gone."

"I'm sure we can work something out." Coulson said hesitantly. "But we can discuss that later."

It didn't take long for the convoy to arrive at the entrance to the East Bridge. The destruction and the now destroyed causeway proved that the Red Lotus had been here, which was only confirmed completely by the presence of the Hell Charger. Noticeably, the car was facing away from them, instead lined up at what was left of the bridge, with its engine revving.

"He's not going to-"

The screeching tires answered Korra's question as the wheels ignited and the exhaust pipes spewed flame as the Charger drove forth over the broken edge, before Korra or Lin could get a chance to make a ramp with their bending.

It shouldn't have worked. The gap was far too wide for an ordinary Satomobile to make the jump. But like its driver, the Hell Charger was no longer ordinary. The black car cleared the gap and set off in pursuit once more.

"So, that just happened." They turned to see Daisy and the others watching as well. "What's up with him?"

"I don't know. But we better get across and quickly." Coulson said. "Something tells me that he'll need our help."


	6. Chapter 6

Once they reached their hideout, Zaheer, P'Li, Ghazan and Ming-Hua ditched the stolen truck and the Earthbender opened up the hidden entrance, sealing it behind them as they entered through it.

Inside, more of their Red Lotus agents had gathered, along with the few of these Unitologists that had supplied the anarchists with support, including the Darkhold page that brought P'Li, Ghazan and Ming-Hua back to life.

No one said anything, instead letting the four of them pass by unhindered as they reached the main control room. Standing inside was the leader of these Unitologists, who was busy looking over a control pad.

"So, judging by Amon's absence, I'm guessing the mission didn't go well?" He drawled, turning to address them.

"No." Zaheer growled. "He was killed by something we've never seen before. Someone with a flaming skull."

"A man with a flaming skull?" The Unitologist's eyes widened slightly, but his expression remained otherwise unchanged. "The Ghost Rider. That would explain it."

"You knew about him?" Ming-Hua asked, disbelief and anger tinging her voice.

"It was a suspicion." He admitted. "The massacred Triads were distinct, but we couldn't confirm it, at least until right now."

"He said he was after this." Zaheer pulled the Darkhold page from his pocket. "But we gave him the slip." Their benefactor's next words sent a chill up all of their spines.

"No, I don't believe you did. In fact, I can almost guarantee that he has tracked you here already."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Partially because he can track the Darkhold." The Unitologist leader switched on a screen. "But mostly because something big just tripped the motion sensors."

The Hell Charger appeared on the screen, the black car clearly highlighted against the rocky outcroppings. The car came to a halt and the driver stepped out, looking distinctly human for the moment.

"What do we do?"

"All units pull back from the door." The lead Unitologist ordered, his voice drifting through the intercom. "We have someone to draw in right now."

* * *

Robbie's car ground to a halt outside the cliff wall. He could sense the Darkhold page behind the rock, and exited the vehicle to take a look around. Very quickly, he determined that the wall wasn't very thick. In fact, Robbie could punch through it with his bare hands. And that's exactly what he did.

As soon as he was through, he walked down the passage, confused at the lack of guards. He knew that it was likely a bad idea to go alone like this, but the Spirit of Vengeance was determined to get what they came for before it could slip away again.

Still, it wasn't like they couldn't find him: SHIELD had placed a tracker inside his car, one which could easily locate him once they zeroed in on the signal. They would almost certainly be here before long.

His musings were interrupted when he entered a large cavern. Metal supports were all around the walls and ceiling, along with clear fortifications to repel any attackers. And yet all of it was unmanned.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked around carefully. The lack of people around indicated that either everyone here had fled, or they were preparing an ambush. Considering he could feel the Darkhold page was in the next room, the latter was more likely.

Still, it wasn't like there was much these Red Lotus could do to him anyway. Nevertheless, he proceeded at a cautious pace as he entered a small sub-cave just at the far end of the main cavern.

Standing right at the far end of the cave was exactly who he was looking for. Zaheer and his Red Lotus were watching his approach, trying and failing to keep their expressions calm instead of terrified.

However, there was a fifth man standing at a far too advanced control console for this world, which was positioned on the wall beside them. He barely looked at Robbie as he stalked forward, tense and ready to strike.

"You know what I'm here for."

"Indeed we do." It was the fifth man who answered the Rider's host. "You've come a long way for a single page."

"Then make this easy on yourself." Robbie stepped into the cave proper. "There's nowhere for you to go."

"Funny." The Unitologist (since that was the only person this man could be) smirked. "I was about to say the same."

Too late, Robbie noticed the unusual metal disk above him as a cylindrical shield of blue honeycombed patterns surrounded him. Almost immediately, he was beset with nausea and pain, almost exactly like the kind he felt when he had entered Eli's device.

The machine had 10 times the amount of quantum fluctuations and radiation as the device Eli Morrow had created, and it was a testament to the presence of the Spirit of Vengeance that Robbie was even alive, let alone conscious right now.

"Now, I know that the Ghost Rider could break out of that." He said, even as Robbie's flesh slowly started to glow and flake off. "So, let's keep him quiet, shall we?"

A spear of energy materialized from the shield, breaking his concentration, and keeping the Spirit from taking full control. The device was capable of adding as many energy spears as necessary as well as increasing the fluctuations and radiation levels.

"Will that hold him?" Zaheer asked, hesitant to approach.

"It will." The leader nodded. "Though I recommend you get everyone ready. I believe we'll have company shortly."

The four Red Lotus members left the room, the airbender leaving the Darkhold page on the control console as he did so. Once they left, the Unitologist sealed the room, before summoning the rest of their tiny squad.

"What's our plan now?"

"Get the containment field mobile. We're scrubbing this op." He said. "Get the portal ready."

There was a flurry of movement as the four men did as they were told, gathering up what equipment they needed, while one of them made to remove the containment device originally meant to help kill the Avatar permanently. However, the portal operator brought everything to a halt.

"Uh sir." One aide called. "The portal frequency is being jammed. I think the Republic may have found our staging area."

"Shit." He cursed, looking to the device holding Robbie. "Then we're stuck here."

The one major drawback of the device was the vulnerability to external threats, something the Red Lotus should be able to help with during their inevitable fight with the Avatar. Of course, should they or SHIELD break the Rider out, the Unitologist didn't have much hope of surviving. For that matter, neither did the Red Lotus present.

"Prepare yourselves." The leader ordered. "We're going to have to fight."

* * *

The small convoy didn't take long to find the Red Lotus hideout. All they had needed to do was follow SHIELD's GPS tracker in Robbie's car, which admittedly took longer without a network of satellites, but Fitz had managed a way around that.

When they arrived, it wasn't hard to notice Robbie's Charger parked right outside, along with the hole in what looked to be a barren cliff side. Of course, the Red Lotus didn't want anyone following them, as a solid metal blast shield had been erected just inside the hole. The metalbenders tried to move it, to no avail.

"It's solid platinum." Lin growled, frustrated. "We can't bend it open."

"I've got it." Daisy walked up to the door and raised her hand.

Platinum in this universe, Daisy noted, was much stronger than it was on their Earth, considering how much harder it was for her power to break through. But despite the metal's strange toughness, it was still blown through by the vibration, shattered pieces falling to the ground with a loud clang.

"So much for stealth." The Inhuman muttered as the rest of the team moved in, while four metalbenders remained outside to keep the entrance secure.

The tunnel wasn't narrow, but it wasn't very wide either, having enough room for maybe five people standing shoulder to shoulder. Conscious of the lack of cover, the group was eager to get into the open cavern ahead, and get some room to move.

Which was just what the defenders were hoping for.

Energy bolts and fire bursts lanced through the tunnel, creating a chokepoint. Bolin and Korra attempted to create a stone barrier, but the energy rounds easily punched through the rock, forcing everyone to get into what little alcoves existed for cover.

That was when Lincoln noticed the metal support structure all over the roof of the tunnel, keeping the whole thing stable. The metal struts were connected to each other, stretching right to where they standing.

"I've got an idea."

Hands sparking, the Inhuman sent a current of electricity coursing through the tunnels, right over the gunners. Of course, their platforms weren't connected to the metal, but that didn't mean Lincoln couldn't hurt them.

Bolts of electricity lanced out from the ceiling, striking the obvious Unitologists in the back. The energy was somewhat dissipated by the distance and their armor, but it still hurt enough to distract them, causing Daisy to lean out of cover and collapse the support pillars of the platform they were standing on.

With the distraction done, everything dissolved into chaos, as benders engaged each other while the non-powered individuals fought to the best of their ability, catching many by surprise.

May and Coulson approached the two Unitologists, one of whom had their weapon in hand and pointed at them. The bolts were absorbed by Coulson's shield, while May was quick to shoot him down, then they dealt with the other one.

As the battle raged on, Korra saw Zaheer and his cronies retreating into a side passage as they hurried away. At a glance, it looked like a trap for her her (and it probably was) but it also seemed like they had something they wanted to keep secure. And considering who they hadn't seen so far, it was pretty obvious as to what.

Or more specifically, who.

"Guys, come on!" The Avatar called. "I think Robbie's this way!"

...

Despite the pain he was in from everything, including the seven energy spears in different parts of his body, Robbie couldn't keep the grin off his face as the sound of fighting drew closer to him.

Korra burst into the room, flipping and kicking a burst of fire at the Unitologists present. She was quickly followed by Mako, Bolin, Asami and Opal, who quickly took stock of the room and the shielded cell containing Robbie.

"Are you alright?" Korra asked, horrified at the sight of him like this.

"I'm still standing." He groaned in reply. "Though it'd help if you could get this unlocked."

Team Avatar didn't have much time to try before they were beset upon by the main four Red Lotus leaders who attacked from all sides. In the ensuing melee, bursts of fire and rock struck the control console, causing several systems, including the quantum device, to shut down.

The damage wouldn't unlock the shield, but it kept the systems stable, which would be enough. And just in time, as it seemed that Korra and her team were going to need help, as the Unitologist leader brought the fighting to a halt, with a burst from his energy rifle.

"This was supposed to be a simple operation." The man growled. "Now, you're going to tell your allies to surrender, Avatar." His aim shifted to Asami, then drifted over the other three. "Or you can watch your friends die right now."

"It's over, Korra." Zaheer said.

"I wouldn't count on it." Bolin said, with a smile that Zaheer didn't like.

"Yeah." Opal agreed. "This definitely isn't over."

Amused and somewhat smug grins appeared on the face of everyone in Team Avatar at this point, which definitely confused the Red Lotus, considering they had cornered them. Then a loud shattering sound revealed why they had to be so afraid.

In all the chaos, Robbie was free to transform into the Ghost Rider, who immediately started slamming his fists against the shields. It didn't take much longer for him to break free, and by the time he had, Korra was clearly watching with a vindictive grin on her face.

With a brief moment to send his chain through the machine controls, the Rider turned his full attention to the Red Lotus and the Unitologist, who had just realized his freedom and the Rider's barely contained anger.

The latter dropped his weapon and quickly attempted to run, but the Rider's chain put a stop to that, and the Unitologist screamed both from the pain, and the realization that this death meant he wouldn't become one with all. That was the last thought that went through his mind before it turned to ash.

Then the Rider spotted the Darkhold page sitting on the desk top, and immediately grabbed it. The demon promptly pocketed it, and turned towards the Red Lotus, his eye sockets narrowing.

The battle between the Avatar, her allies, and Zaheer's gang had briefly restarted, with the former using the distraction of the latter to put them on the defensive. Ghazan attempted to alter that by hurling large chunks of earth at Mako and Asami, but a fiery chain shattered them in mid-flight.

With the changing tide, the four of them burst past the Avatar and her friends, narrowly avoiding Ghost Rider's chain in their rush to get into the main cavern. Of course, once they did get there, it became clear that their underlings weren't doing very well either.

The four of them rushed into the fray, Ghazan holding back to seal the tunnel behind them with lava, temporarily keeping the Avatar and her friends contained. By the time they got out, the Red Lotus leaders were caught up in their own fights.

Their unique abilities allowed them to deal with most of the police and the few White Lotus members present, but Lin, Kuvira, Coulson, May, Daisy and Lincoln were entirely separate matters.

Ghazan and Ming-Hua worked together, while P'Li and Zaheer did the same, doing their best to push them all back. The former pair had managed to toss May aside before pinning Coulson down, when a loud sound became noticeable to them.

The Hell Charger burst through the walls of the cavern, heading directly for Ming-Hua and Ghazan. The former was able to use water tentacles to avoid it, but the latter was still thrown from the pillar he created when the Charger drove right through it.

Rolling away from the car as it attempted to run him down, Ghazan turned the ground underneath it to lava, which failed to damage or even slow it down. Turning the lava back into stone however, managed to halt it, but the Earthbender couldn't celebrate yet, as he summoned a pillar to absorb Bolin's attack.

Nimbly avoiding the next stone, Ghazan retaliated with a rock from the wall, which Bolin narrowly ducked under before punching another rock at him, followed by a disc of lava.

Ghazan leapt over it before retaliating with his own jet of magma, aiming directly for his rival. But in mid-flight, the lava abruptly dispersed, thanks to one of Daisy's shockwaves, which kept going and threw Ghazan into the nearest wall.

"You can't win this Ghazan!" Bolin shouted. "Just surrender!"

"Not a chance!"

Incensed, Ghazan growled as portions of the wall behind him cracked, with lava leaking out before he gathered up portions of the magma and started hurling it towards them.

...

Meanwhile, Ming-Hua was by the water, using it viciously against the White Lotus and police, as ice shards and water jets flew through the air, quickly and efficiently removing them from the fight. A surprise burst of fire threw her off balance, and she blocked a second one with her arms, before turning to the source.

"Give up, Ming-Hua!" Mako shouted. "It's over!" He suddenly leapt to the side to avoid the barrage of ice daggers.

"I beg to differ!"

Ming-Hua gathered more water, unleashing a wave while careful to avoid actually connecting her own body to the liquid. A fear that was well founded as a large blast of fire dispersed the wave before Mako unleashed a bolt of lightning into the water.

Leaping away, she absorbed a large amount of the water into her arms, giving her tentacles to keep off the ground. Then she jumped back, narrowly avoiding a bolt of electricity from Lincoln.

Angered, one of her tentacles lashed out, striking him hard enough to send the Inhuman flying. Unfortunately, unlike Mako, Lincoln could control and generate electricity from anywhere on his body, and when Ming-Hua hit him, a surge of energy traveled through the tentacle and electrocuted her.

It wasn't powerful enough to kill her, but it did hurt, causing both her and the water to hit the ground painfully. She managed to backflip away and summon her arms again, pushing away as another burst of fire impacted where she had been a second ago, forcing her on the defensive.

She leapt around, avoiding Mako's flames and Lincoln's electricity as best as she could. Unfortunately, her panicked path to avoid the Inhuman and firebender led her to make a fatal mistake, as a length of metal wrapped around her waist.

As her momentum was arrested, she instinctively attacked her assailant, but the water promptly turned to steam when it touched the Ghost Rider. Then the length of metal ignited.

Ming-Hua's screams were mercifully brief, but still haunting to the Red Lotus. In seconds, ash and steam were all that remained of the waterbender. Ghazan, who was closest, was horrified, but that terror quickly turned to anger as the Rider turned to him.

Using his Earth and lava bending, Ghazan created a chasm underneath Ghost Rider's feet, catching the demon and pulling him below ground, before sealing the gap. Unfortunately, that still left the Avatar and her cohorts, which they couldn't beat, not like this.

To that end, Ghazan sent a wave of lava at them, which Bolin was quick to redirect. This played right into Ghazan's hands, as Bolin unknowingly sent the molten rock towards the central pillars that provided structural support for the cavern.

The Unitologists had pre-placed charges to destroy this place if necessary, which they wouldn't get a chance to use. Now though, several of the lower explosives were set off, shaking the ground around them.

"Ghazan stop this!"

"Not a chance!"

He hurled more lava, igniting the rest of the charges, while simultaneously creating a stone barrier to protect himself and launching the rock pieces to keep everyone distracted and helpless. Eventually, the cavern began shaking as the metal structures became insufficient to hold it up.

"This ends now! We're going down togeth- HURK!"

Ghazan coughed blood as he felt a stab of burning pain. Looking down, he saw a length of the Ghost Rider's flaming chain sticking out of his chest, a sight sickening for the others and inadvertently bringing back memories of Lash's death for Daisy.

She shook out of the memory, watching as Ghazan was disintegrated from the Rider's hellfire, who had broken free of the lavabender's attempted trap. Unfortunately, Ghazan had already done what he had intended, destabilizing the main columns that held this cavern up.

Seeing the danger, Korra broke off from her fight with Zaheer and activated the Avatar State, increasing her power in order to hold the facility up. He tried to retaliate then, but an airbending kick from Opal followed by a shockwave from Daisy sent him flying elsewhere.

Meanwhile, P'Li struggled to her feet, shaking off the jolt from her fight with Asami. She had fought against Kuvira and Lin, managing to keep them off balance and eventually knocking them out of the fight with her fire and combustion bending.

Unfortunately, Asami had used the distraction to come up on her flank and shock her senseless the second P'Li had tried to shoot Opal out of the sky when she attacked Zaheer. Now though it didn't take long to register what had happened.

Ghazan and Ming-Hua had been reduced to ash on the ground while Zaheer was nowhere in sight, but judging by the Ghost Rider's absence, his odds weren't good. Blinking back tears, P'Li focused on what was happening below the outcropping she was standing on, as Korra in the Avatar State struggled to keep this place stable.

In those seconds P'Li knew what she had to do. The Avatar was vulnerable, and with one combustion blast, she could end the Cycle forever, fulfilling the Red Lotus' purpose to bring the natural order to the world.

It was her best chance to make something out of this, even if she died as well. She gave her life to the cause once, and she would do so again, if necessary. P'Li inhaled, her gaze on Korra as she exhaled, unleashing a combustion blast right at the Avatar.

At the exact moment the Ghost Rider grabbed her forehead from behind.

Her death at least was quick, albeit rather messy, with what was left of her head now scattered all over the place. The demon incinerated what remained of her corpse, as Korra finally stabilized the cavern with the help of Daisy, Lin and Bolin.

Meanwhile, Zaheer had recovered and flew into the cave just in time to see the skull-headed monster incinerate his lover. A brief moment of shock overtook him as tears fell from his eyes and rage gripped his heart, but his mind remained focused enough to realize the futility of attacking him.

Instead, he flew towards Korra, punching her hard before grabbing her prone body, flying away into the upper caverns before anyone else had a chance to react. The sounds of her allies shouting her name echoed behind him, which he ignored as he prepared to stab Korra in the heart.

But a breath of flame sent him flying backwards as he barely recovered, while Korra got into a ready stance, the glow fading from her eyes. Furious, Zaheer flew forward to meet her in battle once again.

...

"We've gotta go after her!" Asami all but shouted.

"We will." Coulson promised. "But we need to get everyone out of here."

"And we're not out of danger yet." Daisy said, turning to the Earthbenders. "Can't you feel the vibrations?"

They did as she requested, and found that Ghazan had done far more damage than they had realized. The charges had gone off in a chain reaction below, and slowly the entire facility was shaking itself to pieces.

"This place isn't going to hold much longer." Lin shouted. "Everyone out, now!"

The Earthbenders still standing created platforms for those that couldn't walk, rushing them back through tunnels that led outside. Meanwhile, the Rider's car opened and let in Coulson, May, and the two Inhumans, driving through the hole it created with Ghost Rider himself standing on the hood.

...

The battle between Korra and Zaheer kept raging as the airbender struggled to get her to the surface. Of course, unlike last time, with no poison, there was nothing keeping Korra in the Avatar State, as well as keeping her focus without the pain she had previously, confidently keeping pace using airbending and jets of fire from her hands and feet.

They broke into the open sky, Zaheer using the new freedom to keep the Avatar on her toes. Of course, Korra wasn't short of ways to go on the attack, and almost effortlessly countered him, switching the Avatar state on and off to gain more power and control while minimizing Zaheer's chances to kill her.

In a lull, she paused briefly as the mountain below began to collapse, feeling a moment of horror before noticing the tiny figures below, just outside the now destroyed cliff. Zaheer tried to capitalize on her distraction, but she flipped in mid-air before hitting him with an air burst.

"It's over Zaheer!" Korra shouted, trying to get through to him. "Don't make this mistake again!"

"The Red Lotus will not be stopped! Not now, not ever!" Zaheer's loss of his friends and lover a second time had clearly taken its toll. "We will be rewarded, and all will be returned to us."

"The Unitologists are using you!" Korra spun around an air current, before hurling a chunk of rock. "You're just puppets to them!"

Unsurprisingly, this went nowhere, as Zaheer sent her flying. Slowing her descent, she landed in a lake, raising herself up on a pillar of water before sending more ice at him, followed by air, fire, and then earth.

It was the ice combined with the stone that finally did him in. She froze his arm in place, messing with his sense of balance as he struggled to stay aloft, leaving Korra to wrap bindings of stone around his other arm and his leg.

Zaheer slowly fell to the ground, which Korra only sped up by activating the Avatar state, then grabbing and flip kicking him, sending him hurtling towards the ground. He created a cushion of air to minimize the damage from his fall, but still hit hard enough to leave an imprint in the rock.

Groaning, Zaheer struggled to rise from his crater, before a hand grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up so that he was eye to flaming eye with the Ghost Rider. He tried to fly away, even bending wind into him, but the demon's grip was unrelenting, and Zaheer was forced to his knees.

"Kill me then!" Zaheer shouted, tears in his eyes. "You took my friends away! Send me to them!"

The Ghost Rider raised his hand, flame gathered in his palm, seemingly ready to do just that before pausing for a second. The smirk that appeared on the skull sent a shiver down the airbender's spine before the flame vanished and the demon pressed a single finger to Zaheer's head.

Searing pain traveled through his body and seemingly beyond, as he felt something wrong he couldn't place. When the pain had mostly passed, he was surprised to find himself still alive.

Seeing that he was free of the Ghost Rider, who had transformed back into Robbie Reyes, he tried to fly away, only to foolishly fall back to the ground when he leapt into the air.

"What have you done?!"

He didn't get a chance to try again, as pillars of rock appeared, trapping him in a tiny hill of stone. Zaheer thrashed around angrily, trying and failing to break loose as Korra landed beside him.

"What did you do to him?"

"Burned his spirit." Robbie said. "He won't be able to fly or meditate into the Spirit World ever again."

"I'm surprised you didn't just kill him."

"I thought you'd want him alive." He shrugged.

The three of them were then joined by the others. Korra and Asami embraced, followed by Bolin pulling them, Mako and Opal into a large group hug while Lin looked on with a smile. Robbie meanwhile just walked up to the four SHIELD agents still here.

"Well... this was fun." The demon's host simply said.

"I guess you'll be leaving again?" Daisy asked. Robbie nodded, pulling out the Darkhold page.

"I have what I came for, and I've still got a deal to complete."

The reunion was interrupted when another portal appeared out of nowhere, and everyone tensed, ready to fight if more Unitologists or worse came out. Instead, it was Tamara who emerged, clad in her Republic issued armor.

"Alright, just gotta shut this operation down..." Tamara noticed the destruction around them, the surprised group and the struggling and restrained Zaheer. "So, I'm guessing I missed a bit?"

...

It was time to leave. After explaining what happened to Tamara (and her calling retrieval teams to sift through the base wreckage), Robbie had insisted he needed to depart, to ensure that all of the Darkhold was safely away from anyone who would misuse it.

The Republic agent offered use of their dimensional teleporter, but Robbie explained that he didn't need it. Swinging his chain around him repeatedly in a circular motion, a portal encircled by flaming edges appeared in the air, large enough to fit the Hell Charger through.

With a thought, Robbie sent the car in ahead of him, then turned to the rest of the gathered SHIELD agents and the Avatar's allies. They had various looks of surprise and amazement on their faces, even the Republic agent's eyes had widened.

"It was good to see you guys again." Robbie said to the four SHIELD agents still present. "You'll keep looking out for my brother?"

"Of course." Coulson nodded.

That was actually enough to get a smile on Robbie's face. With a brief nod to all of them, Robbie turned back and vanished into the portal, which promptly snapped shut behind him.


	7. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Epilogue for this story: also includes some deleted scenes and hints for what comes next.

In a dark room, one man sat at a table, his fingers clasped together. A moment later, a door slid open on the other side of the room, and a younger man walked into the room, standing on the opposite end of the table.

"Status report."

"The Red Lotus base was discovered and our staging area destroyed."

"And I assume the Ghost Rider was able to recover the Darkhold page?"

"From all reports, it seems likely."

"Disappointing, but not unexpected. It doesn't matter, we were able to get what we needed."

"The master was satisfied?"

"Indeed." The speaker stood up. "You're dismissed. Send in our visitor, will you?"

The younger individual nodded and exited the room. A moment later, another man walked in, with an expression that was a mix between awe and anxiousness. His clothes definitely didn't match the rest of the individuals, as his red and black robes stood out.

"Please, have a seat." The new arrival did so. "Now, I'm afraid I have some bad news: the Avatar and her allies have located your base, which means you can't go home for the foreseeable future. However, we do have a mission for you, if you desire." The Red Lotus firebender was silent for a long moment.

"What do you want from me?" He asked finally.

"It's very simple." The Unitologist pressed a button, and a small four-pronged statue appeared in the center of the room. "Your organization's help has been invaluable to us. To the master. You will help spread our wisdom to the rest of the multiverse."

"I live to serve."

"Yes you do." The older man smiled. "And besides, you will be the first person from your world to see things you could've never imagined."

* * *

**So, that's the epilogue portion. I'll admit, it was rather quick, but I will pick up more on this in another story. Suffice to say though, the Gravemind didn't give the Darkhold page to the Red Lotus just so they could revive Zaheer's friends.**

**Anyway, the next segment will be a quick deleted scene. It takes place in the Spirit World, just after Robbie and Korra lost Zaheer, but before they met up with everyone again.**

...

They walked through the wilds of the Spirit World, on their way back to the portal. Through it all, Korra was distracted, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other three, especially considering that they didn't just go to the portal in the blink of an eye.

And the fact that Korra was muttering to herself.

"Is this really the best time?" She whispered fiercely. "I don't think they want to talk right now."

"Something we can help you with?" Coulson interrupted, drawing Korra's attention.

"Uh... sorry." Korra rubbed the back of her neck. "Raava's pestering me; she wants to talk to the Ghost Rider."

"Raava?"

"The Avatar Spirit." Asami answered for Korra. "She's the one who is responsible for the Avatar Cycle."

"Well, as interesting as that is, I think we should-"

"He'll do it." Everyone turned to Robbie. "He agrees to talk to Raava."

"Your... demon wants to do this as well?" Korra asked.

"Well, his exact words were 'let's get this over with,' so I wouldn't say 'wants,' but he's willing to do so."

"Don't we have more important things to be doing right now?" Asami pointed out.

"Apparently, it'll only take a few minutes." Robbie replied with a sigh. "How do we do this?"

"Well, we're in the Spirit World, so it shouldn't be too hard." The Avatar replied. "Just follow my lead."

Korra's eyes turned blue-white and Raava's pattern appeared on her chest, while Robbie's eyes simply gained the same fiery glow he always had. A pillar of light raised the two of them off the ground, before increasing in intensity, blocking their view from Coulson and Asami.

...

Raava's representation appeared in the plane of light, blue and white light emerging from her as her avatar took its form. Her visitor's appearance was far simpler: it was a skeleton composed entirely of fire, no doubt representing the Spirit of Vengeance, and he crossed his arms in a very human gesture.

"You wished to speak to me?" The voice was deep and demonic, unsurprising considering its origin.

"You are a Spirit not of our world." Raava said. "I admit, I am curious to learn more about you."

"That's not the only reason." The Spirit's eye sockets narrowed. "You're afraid of me."

"Fear is not an accurate description." Raava's tone deepened. "What you did to Wan Shi Tong was... difficult to witness."

"He's too far gone to be saved." The Spirit growled. "And I doubt there's anything that could make you feel at ease around me."

"It would help me if I knew your name. Not your title, your true name." He was silent for a long moment.

"Zarathos." The Spirit finally said, with a primal growl. "A name you will never repeat, for your own sake."

"Interesting. How about an exchange, I show you my existence, and you show me yours?"

As Raava spoke, images appeared around the two spirits; Raava's constant cycle with Vaatu, her bond with Wan and her subsequent lives as the Avatar, culminating in Korra, the latest of a long line. Their second fight with Vaatu and their rebirth was also shown, which was where the images vanished.

"I am well aware of your exploits." Zarathos said after a moment. "You want to see my existence? You won't like what you see."

He wasn't lying; images appeared again, this time showing a dimension of pain and suffering of the likes that even Vaatu would balk at. She saw the Spirit of Vengeance fleeing his home and taking refuge on Earth. She saw his previous host before Robbie, a man name Johnny Blaze.

She saw the demon offer his deal, possessing Robbie, then later Mack when Robbie was dimensionally displaced. She watched as the Ghost Rider, whole once more, deep in the fires of Hell, fighting and destroying so much. Her unease towards the demon and his power grew, as did her anger.

"And I know what you've done." Raava's anger became prevalent in her voice. "You offer deals to your hosts and take their lives away, using them to fulfill your own ends."

"At least they have a choice." Zarathos snarled. "You take away the lives of your Avatars the moment they are born to the day they die, forever enslaving them to you."

"You know nothing!" Raava shouted. "Your hosts are discarded and forgotten, while those who have come before live within me." Raava's voice dropped in sad remembrance. "They used to live within me."

Zarathos' essence burned even brighter with fury.

"Don't claim to understand me, when you don't even understand yourself." His voice was cold in contrast to his body. "You resurrect within Vaatu and he within you, yet you can do so much more."

"Excuse me?"

"I've seen beings like you before." Zarathos said. "In some ways, your power is even greater than my own. Your past lives still live within you. Korra is the first of this new cycle, but she doesn't have to be alone."

"How?" Raava asked sadly. "Vaatu and Unalaq destroyed Korra's connection to them through me."

"Except they're not beyond recovery." Zarathos said. "They were part of you once, and they can be again. But you have to remember them. You have to bring them back." The two spirits were silent for a long moment after that.

"You are a curious one, aren't you?" Raava noted. "Vengeance, hatred and pain sustain you, but you don't enjoy them."

"You may have seen my existence," The Spirit of Vengeance growled. "but you do not know me."

"Perhaps not." The Spirit of Light agreed. "But your actions say much; on this world alone, you could have easily killed so many for getting in your way, but you didn't. You refuse to harm the innocent, even though it would be so easy for you. You know suffering, and yet there is still light inside you."

"We're wasting time." Zarathos turned away. "I believe we have work to do."

...

It only took a few minutes, just like they said. After that, the light receded and Korra and Robbie stumbled back, falling to the ground before they fully regained their senses and stood up.

"Well that felt weird." Robbie groaned. "Did it work?"

"I think so." Korra replied. "Raava seems satisfied."

"Good to hear." Coulson resisted the urge to tap his foot. "Can we go now?"

* * *

**And that's one deleted scene. I don't know if the Spirit of Vengeance is called Zarathos in the MCU, but it's a relatively safe bet. Another deleted scene takes place after the story, and is a bit more light-hearted.**

**So after Robbie left, the SHIELD team stuck around for a bit longer, so I thought, what would happen if the members of SHIELD were to go through the airbender obstacle course? Well, this aims to answer that.**

...

"It's quite simple." Tenzin explained, releasing a gust of wind through the gates, which all started spinning. "Get through to the other side."

"So who wants to go first?" Ikki asked. No one moved at first, then May shrugged.

"Let's see how difficult it is."

She took position right in front of the gates. Taking a deep breath, she entered the gauntlet. The airbenders were impressed; May wove her way through the spinning panels, at some points even halting on a dime and heading the opposite direction. When she got out, she wasn't even breathing very hard.

"It's not so bad." She had a smirk on her face. "It should be a breeze for you, Phil." He sighed.

"Let's get this over with."

Once the airbenders brought it back up to speed, Coulson entered into the obstacle course. It didn't take very long for him to come flying out, having made it about halfway before being caught by the doors.

"Ouch." Daisy commented.

"I thought this would be easy for you, sir." Mack laughed.

"Alright, Agent Mackenzie, I think it's your turn then."

"Aw hell." Mack's smile died as he took position at the beginning of the obstacle course.

The mechanic managed to make it slightly further than Coulson before he was thrown back by the gates. He was knocked out of the obstacle course and sat up, rubbing the areas he'd been hit at.

"Well, that looked like it hurt." Yo-yo commented.

"Why don't you take a shot at it, then?" The Inhuman walked up to the spinning gates and stood there for a second. She twitched slightly, then turned back to the gathering with a smug look on her face.

"Done."

"But you just stood there..." Jinora pointed out.

"Oh, shall I do it again?" There was a slight twitch from her again. "I don't know what you're all complaining about, it's fairly easy."

"Well not all of us have super speed." Mack chuckled.

"And I'm pretty sure that's cheating." Lincoln added. "It's supposed to be done without your powers."

"No one said that." She pointed out. "And if you're so adamant, you can go next."

Lincoln looked around and saw the others staring at him. He sighed, taking his position at the beginning of the obstacle course. "This is gonna hurt." He muttered before running through.

Whether through skill or blind luck, Lincoln actually made it three quarters of the way through before stumbling into one of the doors. The resulting chain reaction caused his powers to flare up for a moment and he stumbled back out.

"Oh yeah," The energy manipulator groaned. "that hurt."

"I guess I'm next then." Daisy shrugged.

She entered into the obstacle course, moving as gracefully as possible. That said, she had another advantage; any time it seemed like she would be hit, she sent a brief pulse of vibration, reversing its direction long enough to get out of range. Unfortunately, when she finished, it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"You cheated!" Mack complained.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She gave her best 'sweet and innocent' tone. No one bought it.

"We could feel the vibrations." Coulson replied.

"Well Yo-yo had a point." She crossed her arms. "No one actually said we couldn't use our powers."

"She's got you there." May deadpanned.

"When the Air Nation designed this exercise," Tenzin interjected. "it was intended to train one in the ways of airbending, and using one's ability was not in the spirit of the course."

"But we're not airbenders." Yo-yo pointed out. "I doubt these elders had Inhumans in mind."

"So you admit that you cheated, then." Coulson deadpanned.

"Hey, if it's not in the rules, then it's not cheating." Daisy said, then shot her boyfriend a glance that said 'help me out here.'

"I'm staying out of this." Lincoln held up his hands.

The arguing continued for a few more minutes before they agreed. In the end, May was the only one outside of the two Inhumans who made it through, and the only one who actually did so without using any superpowers.

**Author's Note:**

> The next chronological chapter has already been written in another story of mine; Catalog at War, appropriately entitled 'Avatar vs Ghost Rider'. For those who haven't read it, please do so now, for it'll be important in the next chapter.


End file.
